[imagesource:netflix]

The same director who brought the controversial first Monsters series to Netflix about US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, which was criticised in some quarters for being insensitive, is back at it again.

This time Ryan Murphy, the director, writer and producer behind a bunch of series you’ve likely enjoyed (Glee, Pose, The Watcher, Feud, American Horror Story, Hollywood and Ratched), along with Ian Brennan, is delving into the story about two brothers who killed their parents.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was released last week and shot to the top of Netflix’s streaming chart.

When Court TV first broadcast the Menendez case in 1993, the trial took America by storm, and now the divisive case has been thrust into the spotlight yet again.

Lyle and Erik Menendez are two brothers who killed their parents on 20 August 1989. Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot multiple times at close range at their mansion in Beverly Hills. The brothers, who were 21 and 18 at the time, initially told police they found their parents dead when they arrived home, per the BBC.

Although the Menendez brothers first denied any involvement in the brutal slayings of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, their confessions have never wavered since. Lyle and Erik Menendez have steadfastly clung to their defence, alleging years of relentless physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents.

They claim they lived in constant fear that José would eventually kill them if they exposed him, and in a desperate bid for survival, they made the fateful decision to turn shotguns on their parents in 1989. However, the prosecution argued they wanted to kill their parents in order to inherit their money.

During their second, joint trial, the judge excluded evidence of abuse from their defence case. A jury found them guilty and the pair were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder in 1996. They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Erik and Lyle Menendez, now aged 53 and 56 respectively, are currently in prison in San Diego, California.

The Netflix show has not been received well by critics, with The Guardian‘s two-star review describing it as exhausting and repetitive” while IndieWire said it was a “messy, salacious slog”.

Variety’s Aramide Tinubu added: “Despite the gripping subject matter and the outstanding performances, [the show] has no idea what it wants to be. Therefore, it just dissolves into a retelling of unspeakable abuses and gruesome crimes.”

The Telegraph had a similar sentiment, saying: “Under the withering gaze of the Netflix algorithm, no subject is too sensitive to be off-limits or turned into eyeball fodder.

“And that, in the end, is all that Monsters adds up to. It’s a competently put-together hokum made in the worst possible taste.”

Criticism has also, naturally, come from the Menendez family themselves. In a statement released on X by his wife, Erik Menendez criticised the production the day after it was released, labelling the show “disheartening slander”.

Erik’s response to the Netflix’s series.#NetflixMonsters #Netflix #RyanMurphy pic.twitter.com/Xz1waxA2u3

— Tammi Menendez (@TammiMenendez1) September 20, 2024

I know, I can’t believe a woman has stuck with that man.

The Guardian also reported that another statement was released by 24 members of the Menendez family, attacking Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story as “a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episode nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations”.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the director Murphy said that he thinks it’s interesting that Erik issued a statement without having seen the show.

He acknowledged: “It’s really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen.

“The thing I find interesting, that he doesn’t mention in his quote, is that if you watch the show, I would say 60-65% of our show centre around the abuse, and what they claim happened to them.

“We do it very carefully and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it.”

Okay, so now the question is; were the Menendez brothers actually abused by their parents? The Wrap includes all the most shocking revelations about the supposed sexual abuse, incest and the boys’ sexuality, if you’re interested in soiling your mind with the details.

Cooper Koch, who plays Erik Menendez in the show, recently visited the brothers at San Diego County’s Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility, alongside Kim Kardashian, per Sky News.

Responding to his criticism, Koch said: “I understand where he’s coming from. It’s very difficult to have your life dramatized and retold in a Hollywood retelling of the biggest trauma of your life. One that has, in a sense, defined you.

“I can only sympathise and empathise with him and stand with him. You know, I get it.”

Koch called the visit “a very rewarding experience,” and that Kardashian, who has been training to be a lawyer since 2019, was “super passionate” about criminal reform.

Over the last few years interest in the case has spiked, with a growing TikTok movement to free the brothers. This is especially after recent new evidence, which surfaced in the 2023 documentary Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, leading to calls for a retrial. The film featured claims from former Puerto Rican boyband member Roy Rossello, who alleged Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager.

The defence team for the Menendez brothers claims to have unearthed a pivotal letter, penned by Erik Menendez to his cousin just months before the murders. In it, Erik details the alleged abuse he endured from his father and confesses his growing fear of him. The defence argues that this letter is a game-changer, evidence that was unavailable during the original trial, and insists that it justifies a fresh hearing—one that could potentially alter the course of justice.

Anyway, if you’re still into it, Netflix is releasing a new documentary called The Menendez Brothers that will use “extensive audio interviews” with those involved with the trial, including Lyle and Erik. It will be released on 7 October.

[source:bbc]