Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story - Review

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Monsters (2024)

Before discussing the show I feel that there are a few things I need to clear up before diving into the review. First, I believe that it is necessary for me to clear up my personal biases heading into the show. Primarily I want to make it clear that I am, and have been for a while, a fan of Ryan Murphy as I believed he is not just a talented filmmaker but also one who often works with the right intention. That may come as a shock to a lot of people who believe that he is nothing more than an ambulance chaser waiting for the next drop of blood to better make the batter for the numerous cookie jars he is filling at various networks from his myriad of shows at Netflix to his network series including 9-1-1 on ABC. I believe that Ryan Murphy gave an adequate, but not entirely encompassing, response to much of the criticism leveled against this series in this clip. Second, I want to state where I fall on the Menendez case. I am no legal scholar, nor have I spent a great amount of time researching the case outside of watching a few true crime specials about it. Still, in my opinion I believe the Menendez brothers’ claims of abuse. Again, that is just my opinion, I am sure many do not share in it and that is fine, I just wanted to make clear the viewpoint I had heading into the show as it might help to explain my opinion about the series.

In watching the series I found it hard to stop to the point that I ended up binging all nine episodes in a matter of days, which I rarely do, though that might speak more to my interest in the crime as opposed to the show itself. Though I believe the series works as a piece of entertainment my appreciation of it waned as the episode count dwindled and by the end my view of the show soured greatly. Murphy, as explained in the clip included above, stated that the intent of the series was to include a variety of viewpoints so as to avoid making it appear as though the show was advocating one stance on the case to the exclusion of all others. While I believe the show achieved that stated objective some of the stylistic choices, especially in terms of how it portrayed the various characters, undermined the ability of the show to remain neutral.

One recent series that achieved a neutral stance on an infamous crime quite well was the HBO show The Staircase which dramatized the death of Kathleen Peterson which many attribute to her husband Michael (though I am not one of them). There the death was shown to occur via several different scenarios and while all of them did not shy away from being violent none of it was done it a way which lacked taste or made it out to be more than a means of getting a point across. In Monsters I found that the portrayal of the murder was excessive to the point of making it feel as though it was done to shock the viewer as opposed to trying to depict the crime in all of its ferocity in an objective way. When the series kept returning to the killing and showing it from a different perspective, or simply via the characters relieving it through their trauma or envisioning how it occurred, it felt as though the show was using the viciousness of the murder as a crutch to keep the viewer interested rather than as a tool to convey an idea.

That part of the show which I had the most trouble with was the way in which the characters behaved, especially regarding its portrayal of Lyle Menendez. That is not to say that it was inaccurate, perhaps it was, however, constantly being shown Lyle acting as if he were the Wolf of Wall Street screaming at everyone he encounters and acting a fool made it hard to take many of his scenes seriously since so many of them felt exaggerated. That criticism goes beyond its portrayal of Lyle seeing that so much of the show, especially the later episodes, felt melodramatic and oversimplified as if this were one of those cheap Lifetime movies that is always released months after a crime attracts the media’s attention as in the case of Gabby Petito, Alex Murdaugh, Sherri Papini, etc.

While I appreciate that the show tried to show the crime from a myriad of perspectives, and I take Murphy’s point about male sexual abuse too often not being believed, I do not share his opinion that the show advanced that discussion in any meaningful way. Though the show does spend much time covering the terrible acts allegedly done to the Menendez brothers it too portrays them as calculated and contrived. It is true that the fifth episode titled “The Hurt Man” spent the entire runtime allowing Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, to espouse a litany of terrible deeds done to him which is all delivered in one continuous take with incredible talent and skill from everyone involved which endeavours the viewer to feel sympathy for Eric. However, that performance is immediately undermined by the rest of the series which seemed to cut at the credibility of that which we were meant to believe and had invested our time in watching. While that may have been in service of trying to stay neutral it made it seem as though the show was running in different directions at all times. Specifically, while the show spends much time allowing the fictitious Eric and Lyle to display the hurt done to them by their parents it often makes it appear as though each of those powerful moments were simply an act. What I mean to say is that there is a way of allowing the viewer to make up their own mind without making it appear as though the abuse testimony was a slight of hand trick done by the brothers as a means of trying to convince the jury of their motive for the crime.

That is not to say that the show is all bad as it includes many incredible performances. Nicholas Alexander Chavez is likewise brilliant as Lyle Menendez, though I wish they had toned down his performance to allow the viewer to make up their own mind about him as opposed to beating us over the head with the idea of him being a vapid, hasty, and sociopathic character. Chloe Sevigny who portrays Kitty Menendez is not as bombastic as the show’s most intimidating villain but her chaotic performance and few moments of immoral acts will leave a lasting impact on the viewer given how strong her acting was in those moments. Still, the most gripping performance in the show belongs to Javier Bardem, one of my favourite actors, whose performance as Jose Menendez is not just terrifying given the actions his character performs but is made more menacing given the unique way Bardem delivers his dialogue such that he seems to be entirely outside the norm of how a human should behave and whose outbursts of rage, violence, and compassion are never telegraphed and seem to erupt from out of nowhere.

The weakest aspect of the show though is unfortunately Nathan Lane who portrays Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne. Though Dunne is a person whose life deserves to be given thought, especially in regards to his daughter’s murder, Lane’s performance is so exaggerated and littered with exposition to the point that his actual character faded entirely to the background while Lane worked mostly as a mouthpiece for the writers to shoehorn in various conspiracy theories about the case while also contextualizing certain characters, most notably Leslie Abramson (played well by Ari Graynor). Though Lane’s scenes were tiring and reduced a compelling plot to a slow crawl of forward momentum they did work to bring up an interesting topic for discussion which is what is meant by the word justice or more broadly what is the objective of the justice system.

I recently watched the reality series pictured above which followed Gypsy Rose Blanchard following her release from prison for her involvement in her abusive mother’s death. There are many similarities between her case and the Menendez brothers given that both attracted much media attention and both were acts done, it is alleged, as a last ditch effort to escape the torment they were suffering. While Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s abuse is better documented the celebrity she attracted after release, not to mention how her criminal act was dramatized by Joey King in a mini series, demonstrates the way in which society often serializes crime and how the figures at the centre of it can become more than just victims, killers, and bystanders and evolve into celebrities. Just ask Kato Kaelin.

We live in strange times, but you don’t need me to tell you that. For better or worse crime attracts eyeballs. I would be lying if I said that I do not watch numerous true crime shows a week. For whatever reason people cannot look away from a car wreck, murder headline, or a dramatization of true crime. While I believe that the argument against dramatizing such acts has merit, and I have a myriad of complaints against Gypsy Rose becoming a celebrity, I would be lying if I said that my qualms against such content and celebration is strong enough to prevent me from watching such shows. The point I am trying to get at is that society has a weird relationship with crime. One of the most sickening things I can remember watching in a true crime show was the execution of Ted Bundy which, though it was justified given the terrible deeds he did unto others, was turned into a sporting event where onlookers outside the jail sold t-shirts and celebrated with screams of enthusiasm counting down to his death.

I have gone off on a tangent, but I have read a lot of criticism about this show and while I understand it, and can sympathize with that viewpoint, it is nothing but words and at the end of the day the only thing that promotes change is money. If true crime documentaries, movies, and TV Shows make money they will continue to be made. As many problems as I had with this show I still watched it which at the end of the day is all that Netflix really cares about. The show is a good introductory lesson to people not well versed on the case but did it offer anything new? Did we need to hear the tales of abuse Eric and Lyle Menendez offered to the world as their legal defense performed by actors in a show meant to make money?

I brought up the topic of justice earlier and I want to elaborate further on it here. In University I studied Criminology and there we learned about the difference between restorative and retributive justice where the former seeks to return the criminal to society after a period of time meant to rehabilitate them while the later prioritizes the harm done to the victim and seeks a form of retribution. Here I feel the show could have spent more time investigating what Eric and Lyle Menendez continuing to languish in prison accomplishes. Is it a punitive measure to exact the pound of flesh that will balance out the murder of their parents or should they eventually be returned to society? It is an incredibly tough question. Should the justice system be a vehicle to help offenders reform themselves and return to society better off and willing to contribute or should it simply be a vacuum to suck up and sequester those whom we deem unfit to exist around the rest of us?

Eric and Lyle Menendez were arrested in March of 1990 and remain in prison. While Monsters is an entertaining show that works to transport the viewer back to the 1990’s to relieve the tragic tale of their parents murder, which they committed, it does little to move the narrative forward. The most compelling moments in the series are those which elaborate on the abuse they suffered and breathe life into it such that the audience can get a glimpse into what they suffered first hand. However, should we be exposed to such an image? Two boys, real boys, claim to have experienced these harrowing deeds at the hands of their parents and yet here it is offered to us as entertainment.

That is not to say that real tragedy can never be dramatized. However, if it is to be done it should be for a purpose. Making actors breathe life back into those horrible acts which are said to have occurred in the last century from the abuse to the murder and at the end of the show to simply throw your hands up and tell the audience to make up their own mind makes me question the need for this show. My contempt for it though was secured by the closing minutes of the final episode.

The final scene of the series follows the brothers being separated as they are transported to different prisons after being convicted of the murder of their parents. Here the makers of the show felt it necessary to play the Milli Vanilli song “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.” Milli Vanilli famously committed a fraud by having their voices dubbed on each of their songs, whose inclusion here perhaps was meant to reflect the conveyed lying nature of the Menendez brothers, while the lyrics seemed to promote a stereotyped and homophobic portrait of the relationship between the Menendez brothers. I do not need to put into any more words how disgusted I was with this being the climax of the show since I feel that point has been made.

Ultimately, Monsters is a show I could not stop watching but also one I felt that I regretted watching after it was over. While the shows has many strengths and includes some incredible cinematic moments, the real world impact of it is troubling while the motives of those behind it leave me wondering why this was ever made outside of being a product of greed. I stated at the outset of this review that I was a fan of Ryan Murphy, and I sill appreciate many of the shows he has given us fans over the years, but this is not one that I will be offering thanks for any time soon.