Monsters – The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: Netflix show sparks controversy

The Netflix drama presents the murders from different perspectives as it explores what might have led the siblings to kill their parents.

It follows the events surrounding the murders, including the brothers’ claims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

But the show also makes efforts to show things from the parents’ point of view, something its creators have said was based on extensive research.

Monsters was released on Thursday, 19 September, and quickly climbed to the top of Netflix’s streaming chart – as is often the case with shows in the hugely popular true crime genre.

But the show hasn’t gone down as well with critics. In a two-star review, the Guardian’s Jesse Hassenger described, external it as exhausting and repetitive” while IndieWire’s Ben Travers said, external it was a “messy, salacious slog”.

Variety’s Aramide Tinubu added:, external “Despite the gripping subject matter and the outstanding performances, [the show] has no idea what it wants to be. Therefore, it just dissolves into a retelling of unspeakable abuses and gruesome crimes.”

There was a similar sentiment from the Telegraph’s Ed Power, who said:, external “Under the withering gaze of the Netflix algorithm, no subject is too sensitive to be off-limits or turned into eyeball fodder.

“And that, in the end, is all that Monsters adds up to. It’s a competently put-together hokum made in the worst possible taste.”