‘Monsters,’ the New Menendez Brothers Show, Has Dropped on Netflix
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After weeks of eerie teasers and building anticipation, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story finally dropped Thursday on Netflix.
The new limited series stars actors Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as the infamous brothers, who gruesomely shot their parents inside their Beverly Hills home in 1989 and were later convicted of first-degree murder. Academy Award winner Javier Bardem and Chlo? Sevigny play their father José Menendez and mother Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, respectively.
Monsters marks the second edition of Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series, which featured actor Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022. Here’s everything you need to know about the new season and its account of the Menendez brothers’ crimes.
How can I watch Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story?
Monsters debuted Thursday on Netflix. Subscribers can now stream all nine episodes.
Who plays the Menendez brothers?
Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch were cast as the brothers all the way back in June 2023. Chavez is portraying Lyle, while Koch is playing younger brother Erik.
Chavez is best known for his role as Spencer Cassadine on the ABC soap opera General Hospital from 2021 through 2024. Koch appeared in the 2022 movies Swallowed and They/Them, the latter also starring Kevin Bacon.
Chavez, 25, and Koch, 28, are both older than the real Menendez brothers were at the time of the murders. Lyle was 21 years old and Erik only 18 years old back in August 1989.
Who else is in the Monsters cast?
Deadline reported in January 2024 that 55-year-old Javier Bardem and 49-year-old Chlo? Sevigny, an Academy Award nominee, were slated to play José and Kitty, respectively. Monsters is the second major TV role for Sevigny this year. She portrayed socialite C.Z. Guest in the FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, also produced by Ryan Murphy.
Monsters also added Nathan Lane as investigative journalist Dominick Dunne, who covered the brothers’ highly publicized trial for Vanity Fair. Ari Graynor plays Leslie Abramson, the prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who became the lead counsel for Erik Menendez.
Other supporting cast members include Leslie Grossman, Dallas Roberts, Jason Butler Harner, and Enrique Murciano.
Are the real Lyle and Erik involved in the series?
Neither Lyle nor Erik have publicly commented on the series. They weren’t involved in its production, either. However, Netflix does have exclusive access to the brothers for an upcoming documentary project.
During their 1993 trial, the Menendez brothers argued they killed their parents in self-defense after suffering years of sexual abuse by José that Kitty knew about. Netflix’s synopsis for the series reflects this: “During their trials, the brothers cited years of abuse as the reason for murdering their parents. However, prosecutors argued that their motive was to get their hands on the family fortune.”
Episode recaps indicate Monsters not only examines the brothers’ abuse allegations, but also José and Kitty’s tumultuous marriage and the case’s prominence in popular culture.
Why is the Menendez brothers’ case so infamous?
In November 2022 following the success of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which eclipsed 1 billion hours streamed, Netflix ordered two follow-up seasons and promised to “tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society,” according to Deadline. That certainly describes the case of the Menendez Brothers, who shot their parents José and Kitty to death in their Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989.
It took seven years and three trials, spanning thousands of hours of TV coverage, for the Menendez brothers to be found guilty of their parents’ murders. On July 2, 1996, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But in between the killings and the brothers’ conviction, the Menendez murders became one of the most famous criminal cases of the late 20th century thanks to its potent mix of family drama, Hollywood connections, dramatic testimony, and cable TV’s ability to blanket the airwaves with coverage.
Almost three decades later, the case is still receiving attention due to new allegations of abuse against José Menendez and how they could affect the brothers’ incarceration.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story isn’t the first TV show or movie to tell the story of the Menendez family. You can watch the tragic, grisly events unfold in the drama Menendez: Blood Brothers, the NBC series Law and Order True Crime: the Menendez Murders, and the documentary Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers — American Sons, American Murders.
Are there other seasons of Monster?
The first season of Monster about Jeffrey Dahmer is currently available on Netflix.
Additionally, showrunner Ryan Murphy has already announced Monster Season 3 will center around notorious killer and grave robber Ed Gein, played by British actor Charlie Hunnam. Production begins for the third installment of the anthology series in October.
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