Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez is ready to dive into the process that has caused a stir with its new trailer.
The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's The Menendez Chronicles follows the notorious case of real-life brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. The first teaser trailer for the Netflix limited series focused on a portrait of the “perfect” family, with cracks that seemed to set a dark tone and hint at claims Lyle and Eric had made that they were subjected to years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, Jose.
The first full trailer, now released Wednesday (below), goes much deeper, showing José (played by Javier Bardem) getting physically involved, and hinting at something more, with his sons. The footage begins with the brothers (played by newcomers Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch), arriving at their house at night, each armed with a rifle, and walking through the front door before several shots are fired.
“Erik and I killed our parents together, so I’d say that makes us pretty close,” Chavez, as Lyle, says in a therapy session. The two-minute-plus look then follows the brothers after the murder, as they deal with the nightmares, guilt and elation that came with the act in the time leading up to their arrest. “Our life was one thing, and we decided we weren’t going to take it anymore,” Lyle says in voiceover. “From now on, we’re going to demand more from life. And we’re never fucking going back.”
The footage then shows their arrests and trial. “You don't kill your parents like that,” says Nathan Lane, who plays investigative journalist Dominick Dunne. “Literally disfigure them. It's not about the money. It's something deeper and darker.”
Chloë Sevigny plays Kitty, while Ari Graynor plays criminal defense attorney Leslie Abramson.
The second season of the Netflix series monsters the series will be released on September 19th.
The Menendez case and trial were a media sensation in the early 1990s and monsters is the latest to adapt the story for the screen. Now, 35 years after the murders, Murphy's new Netflix series will reexamine the defense's self-defense theory. During their original 1993 trial, the Menendez brothers claimed they shot José and Kitty after years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father and with their mother's knowledge.
After their convictions for premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both boys were sentenced to consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. And after a decade of appeals were rejected by California courts, the Menendez brothers have spent their adult lives in prison. Now, journalist and author Robert Rand hopes to bring forth new evidence that could lead to their convictions being overturned. In 2023, they have filed papers seeking new habeas corpus petitions.
The limited series synopsis reads: “While prosecutors claimed they were trying to inherit the family fortune, the brothers claimed — and remain adamant to this day, while serving sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole — that their actions stemmed from fear of a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from their parents. Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez dives into the historic case that took the world by storm, pioneered the public's modern fascination with true crime, and in return asks that public: Who are the real monsters?”
This next installment of Murphy and Brennan's true crime anthology follows Dahmer — Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmerthe miniseries about Jeffrey Dahmer, played by Evan Peters, launched in 2022. After the series became a monster success for the streamer, Netflix has ordered two more episodes and transformed the series into an anthology that will tell “stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society.”
Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore, Carl Franklin, Scott Robertson and Bardem are executive producers. Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezalong with creators Murphy and Brennan. The series is directed by Brennan, Max Winkler, Paris Barclay, Michael Uppendahl and Carl Franklin and written by Murphy, McMillan, Todd Kubrak, Brennan and Reilly Smith.