Monsters grabs number one Netflix spot despite inclusion of “graphic” murder scene

Monsters Season 2 has managed to take over the top TV slot on Netflix despite viewers having a had time with one particularly gruesome scene.

Showrunner Ryan Murphy has tackled another true crime case in his Monsters anthology series, this time focusing on the killer brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez.

The pair gained their infamy after they murdered their parents Jose and Kitty at the family’s home in Beverly Hills, CA in 1989.

Because the brothers’ story has been so high profile for decades, it’s not surprising that the series quickly took over the number one TV spot on Netflix’s chart from fellow murder series The Perfect Couple, but a lot of viewers are shocked that people stuck around til the final episode due to the show’s over-the-top killing scene.

“Fam, I’m watching ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ … They didn’t have to make the scene when they killed their parents that graphic. SHEESH,” one fan posted on X/Twitter.

Another commented, “[Monsters Season 2] is gripping and intense, perfect for true crime fans. While some details have been altered for cinematic purposes, it still delivers the brutal reality of the case. The murder scene is EXTREMELY graphic.”

And a third viewer wrote, “The murder scene in the new Ryan Murphy show was too graphic even for me. I don’t think he should of shown that in a show about REAL people. It was too much.”

Murphy’s targeted audience weren’t the only ones who found the depiction of the Menendez murders very grotesque as Erik Menendez called the series out of its “horrible and blatant lies” in a letter provided by his wife, Tammi.

Netflix

Menendez spent the majority of the letter shaming both Murphy and Netflix for taking viewers “back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”

He is referring to the recent discourse around the case in which the brothers alleged their actions were partly caused by the sexual abuse they suffered through from a young age at the hands of their father.

Erik Menendez went on to state that he hopes “it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamour and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved.” He also thanked everyone who reached out to him after the series aired.

Both Erik and Lyle are currently serving separate life sentences at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is streaming on Netflix now. For more true crime news, read about the most shocking moments in Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, whether Brenda Bowman was ever arrested, and how to watch the Huw Edwards documentary in the US.