Every true crime fan’s wish was granted back in 2022 when Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was dropped on Netflix as it became the platform’s most-watched show at the time – it's currently the best streaming service's third most-watched series ever. Now the anthology’s long-awaited second season has a release date, and this time it follows the story of another case popular among true crime fans.
Netflix finally dropped the teaser trailer for Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in March, making it one of the most exciting shows that we couldn't wait for. The second season will be arriving on the platform on September 19 and, as its title implies, will reenact the events around the case of the Menendez brothers who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 – one of the most followed true crime stories.
Being one of the star titles of everything new on Netflix in September 2024, you can expect the second insert in the anthology series to pack an all-star cast. The best Netflix show’s creator Ryan Murphy, aka the king of television anthologies, has roped in a number of his esteemed acting collaborators including Chloë Sevigny, Nathan Lane, and Leslie Grossman, along with Javier Bardem.
A mere 54-second trailer (see above) shows the Menendez family sitting for what appears to be an innocent family photo, overlapped by an ominous pulsing sound followed by the motherly plea "I need to know what’s going on between you and the boys". Ending with the brothers embracing each other covered in blood splats, the second season of Murphy’s Monster anthology points to another shocking retelling of a gruesome tale, but this time feels injected with a sense of empathy for the brothers.
What can you expect from Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story?
Inspired by the true story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the second season is set to follow the two brothers (played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch) who shot and killed their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez (Chloë Sevigny & Javier Bardem) in their home in Beverly Hills on August 20, 1989. Following the aftermath of the murder, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder at ages 21 and 18.
At the time of the case, the brothers shared that the motive behind their brutal killings stemmed from years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from their father, who the brothers believed would kill them if they exposed him. But the prosecutor argued that they committed murder in order to obtain the family’s multi-million dollar estate.
In the show’s first season, not only did it follow the murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer between 1978 and 1991 across the 10 episodes, but included scenes that gave an insight to the lives of his victims and the mind of Dahmer himself. Looking at the trailer for the new season, we get the impression that it will follow a similar narrative structure to the first season, but will hit differently on an emotional level.
