New Netflix series, Monsters, the Lyle and Erik Menéndez, depicting the killings of Kitty and Jose Menéndez is filled with inaccuracies and lies.

The show was released on September 18, 2024, as a sequel series to the previous show Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story. The show pictures the Menéndez brothers’ actions leading up to and after the murders of their parents.

On August 20, 1989, Jose and Kitty were shot in their Beverly Hills home. At 11:47 pm Lyle Menedez, Kitty and Jose’s oldest son, called 911. Through sobs, he told the operator that his parents had been killed. Earlier that evening Lyle and Erik Menendez entered their family home armed with shotguns and brutally killed their parents. The brothers later claimed that after years of abuse, they believed their parents were going to kill them. For years Erik and Lyle’s father sexually molested and raped the boys.  The trial was highly publicized and in the end, Erik and Lyle got life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now their case is being brought back into the light with the release of the Netflix series, but this show is filled with false information and exaggerated stories.

The main issue with the show is their portrayal of Lyle Menéndez. The aggressive, controlling, greedy, arrogant, and drug-fueled Lyle shown in the show is defamatory gossip. In episode 2 of the series, there are several scenes of Lyle doing cocaine and partying. Having Erik wipe off something from Lyle’s nose, and portraying him often sniffling and acting erratically. There is no proof that Lyle Menedez did cocaine. It’s an uninformed claim created by the show, to make the audience more entertained.

Furthermore, Lyle is shown as the aggressor. He is seen in the show yelling at random trick-or-treaters, shouting aggressively in gun shops, and roaring at the therapist when Erik goes in and confesses. Lyle was aggressive and portrayed as if he were unaffected by the killing of his parents.

Erik has since come out speaking against this version of Lyle. Releasing a statement through his wife’s X account,“I believe we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show.” Lyle’s behavior in the show makes him look narcissistic.

Lyle is also made out to be the brother who was dead set on going through with the killings. When Erik considered not killing their parents Lyle was right there to tell him to man up. Later when Erik would cry over the death of his parents Lyle would snap him back to reality. He yelled at Erik when he went to the therapist.

In reality, the choice of killing their parents is on both of the brothers. Erik and Lyle both bought the shotguns. Both boys planned the killing. Both brothers went into their home and shot their parents at point-blank range. Erik and Lyle are both equally guilty of killing their parents. If Erik was so against it, he wouldn’t have gone into the house and killed his mom and dad.

Throughout the show, there are several jabs at something deeper and incestuous happening between the Menéndez brothers. In the second episode during a party scene, Erik is displayed dancing with a woman when Lyle moves the woman out of the way and they begin dancing. As they touch each other’s faces and closely dance, partygoers look on at the brothers in disgust. During that same episode, they display the brothers kissing each other on the lips in their hotel room.

Throughout the show, there are several insinuations of a sexual relationship between the brothers. This is untrue and grotesque. There is no proof of the brothers having any relationship other than a fraternal one. During the trial, the brothers both denied these claims. The only instance of this is an admission by Lyle, stating that he reenacted the abuse he received from his father onto Erik once when they were children. The show makes it severely uncomfortable to watch because of the undertones of incest between the brothers in most scenes.

Later in the season the character Dominick Dunne, the journalist, refers to a possible incestuous relationship between the brothers. Saying that they had a darker secret and they had to kill their parents to ensure that it didn’t get out. Then it cuts to a scene of the two brothers in the shower together. Dunne never wrote that the brothers had an inappropriate relationship. These were lies created to make Dunne seem more irrational while also disrespecting the Menéndez brothers by even filming this scene and putting it into the final show.

In the series, there is also a suggestion of Erik possibly being gay. While in jail, Erik sparks a homosexual relationship. But this is all untrue. Erik is not gay and is happily married to a woman. These gay allegations sprouted from the prosecutor saying the ability of Erik to descriptively describe the abuse from his father sprouted from Erik being gay. These rumors are extremely harmful. They discredit his story and minimize the abuse. And most of all, it is none of our business. Such harmful allegations should have been left out of the show completely.

Throughout the show, there are many false claims made that cannot be backed up; such as Jose and Kitty seeing Erik and Lyle before their killing. In actuality, the pair was shot too close to be able to see the brothers. Also, the brothers went to the movies after killing their parents and visited a restaurant when they only claimed that they were at the movies that night for their alibi.

The show makes false allegations multiple times. Which spreads misinformation and misconceptions about the Menéndez brothers and their case. The show is very interesting and keeps watchers entertained but is filled with inaccuracies and false information. If you do plan to watch Monsters I encourage you to watch the new documentary, The Menéndez Brothers, after or do your own research into the case to get a better understanding of it all.

On an uninformed watcher review, I give it an 8/10 as it is super interesting, with great acting and overall good writing. But with the background of the case, I give it a 4/10.