Last year, Netflix’s true-crime limited series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” received 13 Emmy nominations and scored a major win for supporting actress Niecy Nash-Betts. That came after the victories for lead actor Evan Peters at the Golden Globes and Nash-Betts at the Critics Choice Awards. (Plus, how could we forget “Dahmer” claiming the trophy for Most Bingeworthy Show at the People’s Choice Awards?) Flash-forward to 2024, and the second installment of the franchise, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” now hopes to follow in the award-winning footsteps of its predecessor.
This project tells the story of how and why Lyle Menendez (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik Menendez (Cooper Koch) killed their parents, José Menendez (Javier Bardem) and Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny), in their affluent Beverly Hills home in 1989. Other main cast members include Ari Graynor as Erik’s lawyer Leslie Abramson and Nathan Lane as journalist Dominick Dunne.
More from GoldDerby
A notable highlight is Episode 5, “The Hurt Man,” which is told in a single 33-minute camera take as an emotional Erik recounts for Leslie all of the abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of his parents. If Koch doesn’t receive some kind of awards attention for this career-best performance, then voters should have their heads examined. It’s a masterclass of acting and something I’ve never quite seen before on the small screen.
SEENetflix drops chilling new ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ trailer for latest Ryan Murphy anthology [WATCH]
Just like “Dahmer,” “Menendez” keeps viewers on their toes by skipping around in time and delivering many different points of view, including those of the killers, the victims, the detectives and the lawyers. As you’d expect, the production values are also top-notch — this is Netflix, after all — as the behind-the-scenes artisans recreate Los Angeles in the late-80s and early-90s in all of its earthquakean glory.
All nine episodes of “Monsters” streamed on September 19. Sharing screenwriting duties are Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, David McMillan, Reilly Smith and Todd Kubrak. The five directors are Carl Franklin, Paris Barclay, Michael Uppendahl, Max Winkler and Brennan.
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” received mixed reviews on Metacritic, just like the first installment did in 2022. While Joel Keller (Decider) calls it “compelling” with some “excellent performances,” Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) claims the program is “at once in-depth and superficial, incisive and outlandish.” Meanwhile, Ben Travers (IndieWire) heralds “The Hurt Man” episode for its “definitive, unflinching perspective” and labels it “engrossing.”
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Click here to read the full article.
