Monsters tells the story of two brothers, Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are the privileged and wealthy offspring of Jose and Kitty Menendez. However, what occurred behind the doors of their Beverly Hills mansion, drove the brothers to murder their parents in 1989. This is a true story that takes us through the brothers’ motives, trials, feelings, and outcomes of their crime. Although, the information displayed isn’t 100% accurate, and arguably downplays the abuse they endowed. 

Ryan Murphy, the creator of this show is receiving a lot of well-deserved backlash from the public due to the inaccuracies in the production.  It’s disgusting to portray the brothers as “monsters.” For example, Lyle Menendez, played by Nicolas Chavez, was extremely harsh, angry, and rude. However, in real life, no one had ever described him this way, and the real videos from his court case show his kind and regretful personality. The real-life Erik Menendez released a statement saying “I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.” He described the portrayal of Lyle as “ruinous” and said there were many blatant lies in the show. 

Murphy intended to exhibit many different perspectives and theories about the brothers’ case, so the viewers could form their own opinions. It was very sickening to see the different explanations that made it seem like Erik and Lyle were lying monsters. There are endless amounts of evidence that prove their abuse stories to be true, so it feels unnecessary to try and explain otherwise. 

Despite how the TV show portrays the real-life brothers in their case, the show was spectacular. If this had been an entirely fictional story, it would’ve been amazing. An admirable factor is how the plot slips between what happened, how it is being presented in the trial, and other people’s opinions on it. The special effects, especially the gore, look very real to the point my stomach turned at the sight. The sets were elaborate and very detailed. Even if the major concepts of the storyline were off, the attention to specific components was impressive. For example, many lines were quotes from the actual trial and many images came straight from the case archives or are parallel remakes. If it wasn’t a disrespectful and false representation of real-life people, it was a very entertaining, and well-made watch. 

What stood out most was the perfect casting of each character. Although some key personality points were off, especially for Lyle, Nicolas Chavez did very well, regardless of the faults in his script. Almost every actor has a striking physical resemblance to who they are playing. More impressively, the way they conveyed emotions was heartbreaking. Each cry, scream, or laugh seemed so real that it made viewers feel the same as the character. Cooper Koch (Erik) was able to execute a plethora of emotions with only his facial expressions. With no dialog, it felt like I was able to piece together Erik’s thoughts and feelings. The most impressive part of Koch’s work was episode 5. This entire episode was filmed in one take, with no cuts, camera angle changes, or breaks. It’s unimaginable how difficult this would be, and how much preparation it required. The talent is certainly undeniable. Overall, each actor did very well, specifically with the emotional aspects. 

If you were to switch up the names and locations, this production would’ve been an absolute masterpiece. It is only the effects on the real-life brothers that hold the show back. I’m conflicted because on one hand, I am ashamed to support Murphy’s show, but on the other hand, I couldn’t turn it off. There are dark and horrid explanations behind their crime that should not be downplayed for public entertainment.