Two years after the release of “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are returning to Netflix with their latest harrowing saga. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” will premiere globally on Netflix Sept. 19.
The first teaser for the series sticks to the facts of this chilling case. Bight white text reads “On August 20, 1989 Lyla and Erik Menendez murdered their parents.” the teaser then shows the two brothers entering José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez’s Beverly Hills mansion, shotguns in tow.
No words are spoken as the brothers enter the mansion and cock their weapons. The only other sound that can be heard is the fearful panting of an unknown person. Watch the full teaser below:
Following the success of “The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” Netflix expanded Murphy’s “Monster” saga into an anthology series — a common practice for the executive producer known for “American Horror Story” and “American Crime Story.” This installment chronicles the case of the brothers who were convicted in 1996 for the murder of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.
On that night in 1989, Lyle and Erik shot their father six times and their mother 10 times in total. When the police arrived, the brothers claimed the crimes happened while they were seeing Tim Burton’s “Batman” and attending the Taste of L.A. festival, a story authorities readily believed. But in the following days and weeks, both brothers started to extravagantly spend their inherited fortune, which raised several red flags. This led to one of most discussed trials of the ’90s.
As the prosecution argued the brothers killed their parents to inherit their wealth, the brothers claimed they did so out of fear from a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents. Both Lyle and Erik have stood by this defense even today as they serve their life sentences without the possibility of parole.
“‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ dives into the historic case that took the world by storm, paved the way for audiences’ modern-day fascination with true crime, and in return asks those audiences: Who are the real monsters?” a press release for the series reads.
The Academy Award-winning Javier Bardem will play José Menendez with “American Horror Story” and “FEUD” fan-favorite Chloë Sevigny playing Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. Additionally, Nicholas Alexander Chavez (“General Hospital”) will play Lyle Menendez, 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 series stars include Leslie Grossman as Judalon Smyth, the lover of the brothers’ psychiatrist; Dallas Roberts as Dr. Jerome Oziel, the brothers’ psychiatrist; Paul Adelstein as journalist David Conn; Jason Butler Harner as Det. Les Zoeller; Enrique Murciano as Carlos Baralt, a defense witness; Michael Gladis as journalist Tim Rutten; Drew Powell as Det. Tom Linehan; Charlie Hall as Craig Cignarelli, a friend of the brothers; Gil Ozeri as Dr. William Vicary, a forensic psychiatrist; Jeff Perry as Peter Hoffman, Jose’s former business partner; Tessa Auberjonois as Dr. Laurel Oziel, the wife of Dr. Jerome Oziel; Tanner Stine as Perry Berman, the brothers’ former tennis coach; Larry Clarke Brian Andersen, the brother of Kitty Menendez; Jade Pettyjohn as Jamie Pisarcik, Lyle Menendez’s ex-fiance; and Marlene Forte as Marta Cano, the aunt of the brothers.
Murphy and Brennan serve as the creators and executive producers of the series with other EPs including Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, David McMillan, Louise Shore, Carl Franklin and Javier Bardem.
Brennan, Max Winkler, Paris Barclay, Michael Uppendahl and Carl Franklin will direct this season with Murphy, Brennan, David McMillan, Todd Kubrak, and Reilly Smith serving as its writers.
Shortly after the first season of “Monster” premiered, the series became a massive success. It received six nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards with Niecy Nash-Betts winning for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. It also became one of Netflix’s most-watched originals of all time. Even now two years after its premiere, “Dahmer” is the third most watched English-language TV series in Netflix history. In its first 91 days, “Dahmer” secured 115.6 million views. The only Netflix original series that have been more widely watched than “Dahmer” are “Stranger Things 4,” Season 1 of “Wednesday” and Season 1 of “Squid Game.”
