After the overwhelming success of Dahmer, Netflix and Ryan Murphy decided to turn other real crimes into an anthology series with independent installments. In September, a new season will arrive on the platform, this time bringing the Menendez Brothers case to the screen.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story delves into the historic case that shocked the world in the 90s, paved the way for the current audience fascination with real crimes, and raises the question to the public: Who are the real monsters?

In 1996, Lyle and Erik were convicted of the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. Authorities argued that the brothers committed the murders to inherit their father's fortune. They, on the other hand, maintained, and continue to assert to this day -while serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole- that their actions were due to the fear they felt after a lifetime of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents.

The series stars Oscar winner Javier Bardem as the father, José Menendez; Chloë Sevigny as Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, the mother; Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez; Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez; Nathan Lane and Ari Graynor, among others.

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan return as executive producers of the series alongside Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore, and Carl Franklin. 

The 'Dahmer' Phenomenon

The adaptation of Jeffrey Dahmer's crimes broke records on Netflix in the fall of 2022 despite its virtually nonexistent promotional campaign.

Evan Peters was tasked with portraying one of the most famous serial killers in history in a ten-episode miniseries that spans thirty years in the life of the psychopath, from his childhood in the sixties to the nineties when he was arrested.

Dahmer would be accused of killing and dismembering 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, many of them people of color and some even minors. The killer died in 1994 in jail at the hands of another inmate. He had only served two years of his sentence.

The series amassed 196.2 million hours viewed during its first days on Netflix and close to 300 million total hours, rising as one of the most viewed English-language series of all time on the platform. Following the phenomenon, Netflix renewed it for two more seasons as an anthology series.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence