Ryan Murphy is back with another season of his true crime anthology Monsters, this time bringing the story of the Menendez brothers to the screen. The trailer for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story gave a chilling glimpse into the tangled lives of the Menendez family, leading up to the brutal murder of Jose (Javier Bardem) and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez (Chloë Sevigny) by their sons.
Former General Hospital cast members Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch will play the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, respectively. The trailer shows the family’s strange dual dynamic, where they look perfect on the outside but have dark secrets between them.
“I want to know what’s going on between you and the boys,” Sevigny’s Kitty says, to which Joss replies, “What do you mean?” Kitty says she doesn’t want “any more lies between us,” and promises not to tell people any secrets.
The trailer ends with the brothers shirtless and hugging each other while one of them says, “We’re alone now. We’re on our own,” in voiceover, followed by the sound of gunfire. The Menendez brothers were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The prosecution claimed they committed the crimes for money, but the brothers claimed their parents physically, sexually, and emotionally abused them.
Speaking to Dateline in 2017, Lyle revealed that his story was “made up” to create a media frenzy that the brothers killed their parents for money. “There are about two to three hundred cases every year where a parent is murdered by a child. And they’re almost all related to abuse,” he said.
However, their living in Beverly Hills and their father’s wealth allowed the media to conveniently change the story. They believed it was easier to sell the headline that “these brothers killed for money.”
The series is the second installment of Murphy’s anthology series, which focuses on fictional retellings of true crime cases. The first season focused on Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), a ruthless serial killer known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, and his unfortunate victims. Despite the intense and graphic storytelling, the show earned numerous accolades, including 13 Emmy nominations.
Niecy Nash-Bates won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glenda Cleveland Dahmer’s neighbor who warned police that he was a dangerous man long before he was captured.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story premieres on Netflix on September 19.