Netflix has dropped the first look of its upcoming series from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” All episodes of the drama will premiere on the streamer globally Sept. 19.
The teaser starts with a family photo of José (Javier Bardem), Kitty (Chloë Sevigny), Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch) Menendez. After the seemingly perfect portrait is taken, all of their faces fall.
“I need to know what’s going on with you and the boys,” Kitty says in a voiceover as the camera continues to click.
“What do you mean?” her husband José responds.
“I need to know. I don’t want there to be anymore lies between us,” Kitty insists. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“It is over. Stop. I’m going to fix this family,” José says. At that point, José and Kitty walk out of frame. As Lyle and Erik watch them leave, their faces darken. The scene then changes, showing a shirtless Lyle and Erik bathed in blue light. As they hug each other, one of them says “It’s just us now. We’re on our own.” Watch the full teaser below.
On the evening of Aug. 20, 1989, authorities received a call from Lyle Menendez, stating that his parents — José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez — had been murdered in their family home. Thus began one of the most captivating true crime cases of the ’90s. Later it was revealed that Lyle and Erik were the ones responsible for their parents’ murders. As their critics claimed the brothers committed these horrific crimes to inherit their parents’ substantial fortune, a second narrative began to emerge from the defense, arguing that the brothers endured a lifetime of sexual abuse from their father and that they acted in self defense.
The Netflix original takes a sharp look at the case that helped spark our modern-day fascination with true crime and asks audiences “Who are the real monsters?” a press release for the series reads.
“The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” stars Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) and Chloë Sevigny (“FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans”) as José and Kitty Menendez, respectfully. Additionally, Nicholas Alexander Chavez (“General Hospital”) will play Lyle Menendez and Cooper Koch (“Power Book II: Ghost”) will play Erik Menendez. Nathan Lane (“The Producers”) will play Vanity Fair reporter Dominick Dunne, and Ari Graynor (“The Disaster Artist”) will play defense attorney Leslie Abramson. Other stars of the upcoming drama include Dallas Roberts, Leslie Grossman, Paul Adelstein, Jason Butler, Enrique Murciano, Michael Gladis, Drew Powell, Charlie Hall, Gil Ozeri, Jeff Perry, Tessa Auberjonois, Tanner Stine, Larry Clarke, Jade Pettyjohn and Marlene Forte.
Murphy and Brennan serve as the creators and executive producers of “Monsters.” Brennan also writes and directs this season. Other directors include Max Winkler, Paris Barclay, Michael Uppendahl and Carl Franklin with Murphy, David McMillan, Todd Kubrak and Reilly Smith writing this season. In addition to Murphy and Brennan, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, David McMillan, Louise Shore, Carl Franklin and Javier Bardem serve as executive producers.
“Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” first premiered in 2022 and quickly became a major hit for Netflix. The first season is currently the No. 3 most watched English-language series on Netflix, scoring over 115.6 million views in its first 91 days. For his role in the series, Evan Peters won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture, and Niecy Nash won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” premieres Thursday, Sept. 19, on Netflix.