Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story came out on Sept. 19, 2024, and is based on the real-life story of the murder of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons, Lyle and Erik.
In 1996, the brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, despite the abuse they endured from their parents. This caused a lot of backlash from people who believe that victims of abuse should be given a second chance at life, outside of prison, after serving their time.
This controversy has been recently reignited by the 9-episode Netflix series, not only because it’s reopening the debate about the case, but also because people are saying it breezed over the abuse the brothers experienced and didn’t depict the brothers accurately.
Moreover, many people claim that the show inaccurately portrays Lyle and Erik. Notably, the show depicted an underlying romance between the two brothers, made Lyle appear extremely aggressive, and made them both out to be very spoiled and unremorseful after the murders.
I agree that the show didn’t go into enough depth about the abuse, however, I think that episode 5, “The Hurt Man,” did a great job of conveying the emotion behind what the brothers went through. This is because it was the first time Erik Menendez, played by Cooper Koch, confided in his lawyer, Leslie Abramson, played by Ari Graynor, about the abuse he experienced. This was a very impactful performance by Koch and even more impressively, this 36-minute episode was taken in one cut.
The brothers have since spoken out with disdain toward the show’s portrayal and are eager to get their full truth out there.
Erik said in an X post, “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show…It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without bad intent.”
The director, Ryan Murphy, has responded to this backlash, and claims he wanted to provide all perspectives and theories from every side of the story. In my opinion, the issue with this is that combining these different theories discounts the real truth, which is only known by Lyle and Erik, who experienced it themselves.
Although controversial, the show has shed light on the case for the new generations who didn’t live through it, as well as other male victims of abuse. The show has also led to many new supporters of the Menendez brothers, including Kim Kardashian, who recently visited them in prison and is vouching for their release.