In 1989, the world shook when it was reported that Erik and Lyle Menendez, two spoiled California rich kids, murdered their parents in cold blood inside their Beverly Hills home. 

Director Ryan Murphy (creator of American Horror Story, and Netflix's Dahmer), released his rendition of the tale on Netflix last month titled Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Starring Cooper Koch as Erik, and Nicholas Chavez as Lyle, we follow the brothers through events that eventually lead to the murder of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez.

At the outset of the series, we see the brothers behaving just as the public suspected: spoiled and getting everything handed to them. After the murders, however, we witness the spiral that takes the sanity of Erik, who eventually cracks to the point where he admits the crime to his therapist, Dr. Oziel (Dallas Roberts). 

The public turns on the brothers once they are taken into custody. People call them “heartless” and accuse them of having no remorse. That is, until Erik hires attorney Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor), that the truth starts to come out. 

It is revealed that the motive for the murders is self defense. Viewers learn about the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse that the brothers faced at the hands of their parents. During questioning, and on the witness stand, the brothers go into gruesome detail about the abuse that they endured throughout their childhood. 

Koch should be praised for episode five, in which he performs a monologue detailing the abuse he (Erik) suffered as a child throughout the entire episode, 

Both lead actors give performances. They uncannily nail the mannerisms of the real life brothers, In fact, their performances are so good, I'd be surprised if Menendez brothers haters didn't have second thoughts about the case.  And since the release of the series., it appears many have.

Not all of the feedback from this show is positive, though. Erik and Lyle have said themselves that what is depicted is a “blatant lie.” Erik has gone on record through his wife, Tami, on X, claiming the series has “bad intent” as well as “vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and I.” Some complaints are about the inaccuracies of the drug use, as well as relations between the brothers. Director Murphy disagrees, however, and even went as far to say that Monsters was “the best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years 

I will say that Murphy could have gone about the publicity for the show in a more respectful manner, as the brothers are still dealing with the trauma of their past.

Of course, when any true story is made into a television series, one has to surrender to dramatization. TV life isn't real life. It has to pull in viewers, after all.