Back in the 90s, large networks stumbled over themselves to deplet the quick-turnaround TV films based on real crimes in the hope of taking advantage of the public’s fascination with scandalous headlines. Frop until today and that impulse has evolved. Streaming services like Netflix are now serving polished mini -series that digs deep into the same sensational stories, giving them a veneer of prestige. Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez history is the latest addition to this trend, with Ryan Murphy again at the helm. Murphy has mastered how to turn these tales in the ultimate weekend binge whose clips end up circle with your page to your page until you finally give in and look at. He did it with Dahmerthat makes it a tiktok sensation, complete with young women fantasizing about a killer with Evan Peters’ face. Now he has approached Menendez Brothers’ case, and it is clear that he is using the same bag of tricks.

Over the range of nine episodes, Monsters Dive into Erik (Cooper Koch) and Lyle Menendez (Alexander Chavez), who was convicted of murdering their parents, José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloe Sevigny), in 1989 switching between the days led to those days led To kill their parents, switching between the leaders (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloe Sevigny). To the killings, flashbacks of family dysfunction and the brothers’ trial. Murphy predictably aims to give the audience all the juicy gossip and cruel details they ask for before blinding them with disturbing moments of ambiguity. Were the brothers really victims of terrible abuse, or were they simply sociopathic connections?

A tale of the ambiguity of truth

There is a prominent moment in the series, a regular-breaking fifth episode that zooms in on a single shot of 35-minute conversation between Erik and his lawyer. In this episode, Erik tells the abuse he claims that both brothers endured in their parents, and the camera slowly pushes in on him as the tension builds. It is a Masterclass in filming that ends in Koch that delivers an extremely detailed monologue that feels painfully intimate. Unfortunately, the show does not maintain this momentum, and quickly returns to its usual chaos as soon as the credits roll.

The show’s narrative zigzags back and forth, which further confuses the audience about how much of the brothers’ history should be believed. Are these two broken boys who jumped out after years of trauma, or are the cold -blooded murderers who masterminded a way of inheriting their parents’ wealth? At times the series succeeds in coming into doubt, especially when Vanity Fair Journalist Dominick Dunne (played by Nathan Lane) raises the question: “Either these boys endured the most sick abuse imaginable and their parents got exactly what was coming. Or you were able to train this performance out of a lying murderous psychopath. I don’t know which of these options scares me more. “Dunne acts as the Greek Choir of the series, which expresses suspicions of the brothers’ true motivations, but his character eventually feels like a vehicle for the uncertainty of the audience rather than a fully realized individual.

Tragedy for tension

In the core, Monsters raises a crucial ethical question: Should we really take advantage of these real tragedies for entertainment, especially when the legal battles that surround them still take place? There is something inherently disturbing about transforming a story of alleged abuse and murder into bingeable content. Murphy’s acquisition of the Meningz case highlights the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator, but the show never completely spikes the delicate balance needed to explore such a nuanced topic. It all is shock value and moral ambiguity with a little real insight into the real human suffering.

An area where Monsters Really falling the ball is in its handling of male sexual abuse, a topic is still rarely discussed with the same gravity as its female counterpart. The show had an opportunity to dive deep into this topic, but instead it foams the surface and offers a little more than fleeting references to the brothers’ alleged trauma. In later episodes, it seems to suggest a strange sympathy for José, especially in a tender scene between him and Kitty. It is moments like these that make it clear that Murphy did not intend to deal with the subject of the care it deserved, and instead preferred to lean into his well -weded troop of romantic abusers and murderers.

And then there is the most confusing decision of the series: Inclusion of an incestuous relationship between the brothers. A relationship they have hardly denied in court and which has never been confirmed by any credible source. This added layer of sensationalism feels cheap and completely unnecessary, and only serves to further distance the show from any sense of an intellectual or responsible retelling of facts.

The great gorge

In spite of its deficiencies, Monsters Has succeeded in rule with the public interest in the Meningz case. While some viewers have praised the performances – especially Oscar winner Bardem’s cool portrayal of José, who has been identified by some psychiatrists for playing the most convincing psychopath on screen – has others, including the men’s family, been less than enthusiastic. Actually admitted Koch in an interview with Black That the negative reactions “certainly affected” him, though he still felt empathy for Erik.

The case is far from closed, with new evidence of José’s alleged sexual abuse that emerges. Erik and Lyle are scheduled for a new consultation in November confirmed by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gasxon, and they have even received support from high -profile figures like Kim Kardashian. In a personal essay to NBC NewsKardashian expressed hope that the brothers’ lifetime judge could be reconsidered and pointed out discrepancies in their second trial where key certificate for abuse was excluded. Whether the series will affect this new chapter in the brothers’ legal saga is re -seeing, but it is clear that Monsters is less about revealing the truth and more about feeding our collective hunger for the macabre.

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