‘Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story’ Series Review: Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny Star in Cruel, Confused Storytelling Trouble

A still from ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story’

It’s surprising that it took so long for Ryan Murphy to adapt the story of the Menendez brothers. On the surface, the murder case had all the trappings of a Murphy-esque show: a grotesque sequence that unfolded in the plush comfort of a Beverly Hills home. But get past the murders and you find some uncomfortable truths. Although Murphy and his co-showrunner Ian Brennan try to explore the motivation behind the murders of Jose Menendez and his wife Kitty by their sons Lyle and Eric, they do a poor job of scripting the nuances of the play.

After Jose and Kitty were shot to death by their sons, Lyle and Eric, in 1989, the wealthy Menendez family became the focus of media attention. What particularly drew attention to this crime was the court proceedings that were broadcast, allowing a passive flow of public opinion to be discussed. The case made the American dinner table, and was even parodied in a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Murphy’s latest foray into true crime, a genre he has yet to quite perfect as well as his horror anthology, is his second installment. the monster In series nine episodes, he and Brennan follow the murders, but focus more closely on events not live for American audiences. It frames the time that Lyle (Nicolas Alexander Chavez) and Eric (Cooper Koch) spend after the murder, before being caught, and the hours spent in prison for their defense. The story, which follows a non-linear format, also goes back in time to explain how Jose (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloë Sevigny) were parents.

Murphy and Brennan draw some early, crude character sketches of Lyle and Eric, but disappointingly not much effort is made to add more depth later on. The brothers are unrepentant in the slightest and continue their glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. The script, at this point, seems to simply parrot the narrative popularized by the mainstream media at the height of the case in the early 1990s.

The unique aspect of the Menendez brothers’ case turned out to be a definite shift in audience perception. Their court testimony, about sexual abuse at the hands of their father, underscores any version of the murders throughout the adaptation.

A still from ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story’

In the latest Netflix adaptation, the showrunners don’t exactly dismiss the sexual abuse, but they’re more interested in making sure to consider all claims, including the claim that it’s probably all made up. The result is a show unsure of direction, with no conviction in its writing.

Far from providing the audience with any basis for believing the alternative, Murphy and Brennan make a habit of hinting at it what if. So are the brothers plain and simple evil murderers who care about money? What if they had more hideous untold secrets to hide? No one embodies that better than these dinner-table gossip questions Vanity Fair Reporter Dominic Dunn (Nathan Lane), to whom Murphy returns in the latter half of the series to represent a questioning, curious society. By the time you finish the show, the script becomes a vehicle for accumulating salacious theories.

Putting aside Murphy and Brennan’s dubious record of adapting true crime, their biggest problem is the show’s recurring inability to deliver a satisfying ending. When he and Ian Brennan brought up these unsolved crimes, as they did the guard (2022), scripts often lack a line for the audience to follow.

It’s a technically well-crafted show, with signature stylings that come with a dignified Ryan Murphy presentation. While the script may leave a lot to be desired, the cast’s performances make up for some of it. Javier Bardem leads the Menendez family as Jose with a menacing presence, while Sevigny follows as the matriarch barely holding it together. With Nicolas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch carrying the show’s more tender notes with ease, the fifth episode is a standout for Koch.

Story in the heart Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Eric Menendez It has been told countless times before, contributing to an understanding of sexual abuse and the American media circus of the 90s. Still, in the hands of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan it’s a sensational mess so mired in the embellishment of facts, it loses the plot halfway through.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available for streaming on Netflix