The unnerving seconds that led up to one of the most headline-making cases of the ‘90s plays out today in the first look ofRyan Murphy’s latest installment in his true-crime anthology series,Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Viewers follow behind the story’s two main players, Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch), a pair of brothers, as they walk up the driveway to the front door of their family home in Beverly Hills. When the doors open, we only hear gunshots, but those familiar with the case know that at this point, all hell breaks loose. The first peek also serves as the release date announcement, with the series officially set to land on Netflix on September 19.
Nothing if not timely, the teaser drops on the very anniversary of the night when theMenendez brothers murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989. The siblings entered their family home and unloaded their shotguns, slaughtering their parents, but they weren’t the police’s primary suspects immediately as they seemingly had solid alibis. But, eventually,the truth would catch up with themand the duo would be sentenced to prison for life without the possibility of parole. During the trial, the defense team said the murders took place as a last ditch attempt to break free from their parents as the boys had suffered emotional, sexual, and physical abuse for years. Still, the prosecution’s portrayal of Erik and Lyle Menendez as two money-hungry young men won out in the end. Murphy’s production will likely lean more into the brothers’ alleged experiences now that more than 30 years have passed and society has changed with it.
Joining Chavez and Koch in the latest team-up between Murphy and Netflix areJavier Bardem(Dune: Part Two) andChloë Sevigny(Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) as Jose and Kitty, respectively.Nathan Lane(The Birdcage) joins the ensemble as legendary investigative journalist, Dominick Dunne, andAri Graynor(Bad Teacher) as the brothers’ protective and dedicated defense attorney, Leslie Abramson.
Ryan Murphy Sets Up Another Hit
WhenMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendezstory arrives next month, it will have been two years since Murphy took the world by storm with the first installment of the killer-centered series inMonster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. StarringEvan Peters(American Horror Story) andNiecy Nash-Betts(Grotesquerie), the series followed the titular serial killer while also working in the failures of the justice system that allowed him to fall through the cracks and avoid capture for years. Theseries was an immediate hitand an award season favorite, with the streamer greenlighting two more installments. Beyond the Menendez brothers, it’s unclear who will take center stage next, but it appears as though Murphy is sticking to better known killers, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see Season 3 followJohn Wayne Gacy,Ted Bundy,Gary Ridgway, or evenAileen Wuornos.
Check out the first look atMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storyabove.
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
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