My Review of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (2024 Netflix Series)

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Ian Brennan And David McMillan And Reilly Smith And Todd Kubrak 

Directed by Carl Franklin And Paris Barclay And Michael Uppendahl And Max Wrinkler And Ian Brennan

Lyle: "Erik and I killed our parents together so I'd say that makes us pretty close."

Two years ago, the arrival of Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story made quite an impression on Netflix. Yes, it warranted criticism but it also blew up in viewers and gave Evan Peters something of a career boost. It looks like history has repeated itself once again.

I'm familiar enough with the story behind the Menendez brothers and this isn't the first time we've had a movie or series on the high profile killers in the last decade. It's certainly however due to Ryan Murphy's influence become the most provocative with his usual tropes and dramatic licencing very much front and centre. For better and worse, depending on your point of view.

The one thing that Ryan Murphy can be credited would be casting and throughout the nine episodes, he's found future stars in both Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch. Regardless of your stance on Murphy's handling of true crime, both leading men give some of the best performances in this genre alone.

The first episode played out with both Lyle (Chavez) and Erik (Koch) orchestrating the murder of their parents Jose (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloe Sevigny) in rather graphic detail. Coupled with the lads hedonistic spending and Erik confessing to therapist Dr. Jerome Oziel (Dallas Roberts), the perfect crime wasn't so perfect after all.

Granted it was Oziel's mistress Judalon Smyth (Leslie Grossman) who ultimately reported the Menendez brothers to the police, albeit not for moral reasons but her actions certainly started quite the ripple effect. The boys got arrested, sent to the same prison but ended up separated in different wings before ultimately leading up a trial that took years to end the way it was inevitably going to.

In the boys corner, you had Erik's lawyer Leslie Abrahamson (Ari Gaynor) who believed in their innocence and tried to help them, even when the media eventually turned on them. She believed their story about being abused by their parents and fought to get them freed but couldn't win over the court or the general public who also turned on them.

On the other side, you had Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane), a journalist who experienced the loss of a child and seemed unconvinced of the Menendez brothers innocence throughout the entire trial. Sometimes it seemed like his own personal tragedy clouded his judgement but even then, this miniseries tried to look at both perspectives behind the motives of Lyle and Erik's crime.

- The episode titles are Blame It On The Rain, Spree, Brother Can You Spare A Dime?, Kill Or Be Killed, The Hurt Man, Don't Dream It's Over, Showtime, Seismic Shifts and Hang Men.

- Cooper Koch certainly gave an Emmy nominated worthy performance in the fifth episode, a two handed between him and Ari Graynor. The show hinted at Erik maybe being sexually confused though the real Erik is straight.

- The boys had an encounter with O.J. Simpson and even mention Jeffrey Dahmer, so there was those links to Ryan Murphy's other true crime exploits.

- The next (and presumably) last season of Monster/s will focus on Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam.

- Standout music: A good selection including Don't Dream It's Over, which was used to great effect.

- Chronology: Mostly from 1989 to 1996 but also flashbacks to 1962 for the backstory of Jose and Kitty meeting each other.

I enjoyed the previous and I really enjoyed Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. Yes, there's creative liberties taken with it but there's also some career making performances from both Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, who excel as both Lyle and Erik. You might as well watch it.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows

I've been wanting to do this particular blog for a while now and with the increased amount of shows that Ryan Murphy is involved in, here's a rundown of what to expect.

911: Season 8 of the long running firefighter show will return to ABC from September 26th and will be paired with another Ryan Murphy production, making Thursday nights a Murphy double bill. Expect more of Buck/Tommy and maybe Eddie, lol.

911: Lone Star: Season 5 of the hit show got delayed and pushed to the Fall on FOX. The date has yet to be officially confirmed but there are rumours that this might be the final season for the popular spin off series. Season 4 ended with TK and Carlos tying the knot.

All's Fair: Kim Kardashian clearly enjoyed working with Ryan Murphy and vice versa because now they're working on an all female led law firm drama for Hulu. The better part though would be Jon Robin Baitz executive producing this and the castings of Glenn Close and Halle Berry. Expect this to debut in 2025 with filming due to start shortly.

American Horror Stories: Last October, FX on Hulu premiered the first four episodes of the third season as part of their Huluween event. Expect the remaining five episodes in October with leprechauns, clones, things under the bed, werewolves and the backrooms being the order of the day.

American Horror Story: It's been three months since the second half of Delicate wrapped but there's been no word on Season 13 as of yet. My guess is that it's been pushed to 2025 and FX have yet to officially decide whether it'll be the final season or not. I'm sure we'll know in due course the fate of this long running series.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez: Ryan Murphy just loves his anthology shows and this is another one for FX. Airing with a double bill from September 17th, the show will delve into the rise and fall of disgraced NFL player Aaron Hernandez. Josh Andres Rivera will play Hernandez with the cast also including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jake Cannavale, Lindsay Mendez and Tony Yazbeck to name a few.

Doctor Odyssey: If you wanted a show that looked like Grey's Anatomy met 911, then this series might be for you. The cast includes Joshua Jackson, Sean Teale, Philippa Soo, Don Johnson and Callum Swan. The premise being on a cruise liner does have a lot of potential and I don't doubt it'll put the naughty in nautical as well. Premieres September 26th on ABC.

Grotesquerie: Potentially filling the void for American Horror Story and even American Crime Story, this upcoming detective horror show rounded out its cast with Niecy Nash, Leslie Manville and Courtney B. Vance. It's also added both Travis Kelce and Nicholas Alexander Chavez to the cast. An airdate for FX has yet to be confirmed but expect it late 2024.

Mid-Century Modern: Of all the upcoming shows, this might be the one I'm the least excited for. It's also potentially not going to happen as only a pilot episode has been commissioned for Hulu so far. Basically, Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Linda Lavin are in a Golden Girls knock off, playing variations of Rose, Dorothy and Sophia. There's also a role for a hot pool boy that's yet to be cast. I'd be shocked if this gets picked up as a series. 

Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story: The follow up from the successful Dahmer series has both Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez playing the Menendez brothers as well as Chloe Sevigny and Javier Bardem as their parents. The series will premiere on Netflix in late 2024.

I'll catch up with most of not all these shows over the next year. Some I'm looking forward to more than others.

Monsters - The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story: Main Cast Revealed, American Sports Story and more

Following the runaway success of Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix took was what was intended to be a limited series and decided to make an true crime anthology series.

For Ryan Murphy, he was already doing this for FX with American Crime Story but given the record breaking hit that Dahmer had become, you almost can't begrudge him for going down the anthology route, given that it's his bread and butter since 2011.

The second season of the now Netflix True Crime Anthology series has the title of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story and earlier this week, the two leading actors were cast. Playing the role of Lyle Menendez will be Nicholas Alexander Chavez, best known for his role in long running US soap General Hospital. 

As for Erik Menendez, the role has been given to Copper Koch. The actor, slightly less known but in recent months has appeared in LGBT horror movies such as They/Them and Swallowed. I reviewed the latter on this blog earlier in the year and will get to the former fairly soon. Filming for the second season will begin later in the year with a release on Netflix scheduled for 2024. I'll review it in a similar to how I tackled the first season.

Speaking of Dahmer, while it was a source of online controversy, the series has in subsequent months been nominated and won various awards (recently including a BAFTA) with leading actor Evan Peters repeatedly praised for his performance. I don't know if Lyle And Erik Menendez will garner similar awards but it's Murphy's only remaining link to Netflix (along with a second season of The Watcher) as his five year contract with the streaming comes to an end and he heads back to Disney. When more casting becomes known, I will post another update.

Getting back to Disney or more accurately, the FX and Hulu, it seems that not only has American Sports Story been in production since April this year but Josh Andres Rivera was cast in the role of NFL player Aaron Hernandez while Ariana DeBose has also been cast in an undisclosed role. The other rumoured anthology series, American Love Story is still in development and will focus on the courtship and marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. 

Last but not least, a little update on American Horror Story: Delicate would be that Denis O'Hare has seemingly confirmed that he will be in the upcoming season, though his role has yet to be revealed. As for spin-off show, American Horror Stories, the only actors confirmed for now are Lisa Rinna, Jeff Hiller and Petra Collins in undisclosed roles.

That's everything for now. More updates soon.