Netflix had a major hit in the form of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story a couple of years ago. Now it’s going back to the same idea with a scary-looking new true-crime adaptation – which arrives on the streamer this week.
This time around, however, it’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, widening its focus a little to focus on these two brothers who murdered their parents right at the end of the 1980s. The second full trailer makes it clear that this one’s going to be plenty disturbing.
While the two titular young men look like they’ll be played in sympathetic but nonetheless simmering form, it’s the performances of their parents that look like they could really seize audiences’ attention.
Taking these almost unbelievably nasty characters on are Javier Bardem (as José Menendez) and Chloë Sevigny (playing Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez). It’s clear they’ve both had plenty of fun inhabiting the roles of the parents who made it very clear they didn’t care for their sons remotely.
Bardem, in particular, looks like he’s going back to the sort of menacing threat that he became so famous for after his stunning role as the utterly ruthless contract killer Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men. For the Monsters follow-up, though, there will be real feelings behind his eyes, which might even make things scarier to watch.
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Sevigny, meanwhile, gets to drop some absolute bombshell lines – even in the mere couple of minutes that the latest trailer lasts for, including some lovely thoughts on how she wishes she’d never had her sons – said right to their faces.
So, this is clearly going to be another big series in Netflix’s ongoing attempts to be the best streaming service for true crime fans, a race it’s running rather well. The show is imminently upon us, too, as it starts streaming on 19 September – and you can expect it to sprint up Netflix’s charts the moment it becomes available.
After all, it’s become clearer and clearer over the years that true crime sells, and Netflix will certainly hope that’s true for its subscriptions. It certainly looks more entertaining than the current Netflix no.1 movie, not that Monsters could be directly compared to Uglies…
