The trailer for “The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” reveals parents Jose and Kitty

José and Kitty Menendez make their Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez Debuting in the final trailer for the Netflix anthology series, it reveals the now-deceased parents of real-life brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Following a teaser trailer that hinted at rifts in the family and the first official trailer that focused on the Menendez brothers after the murder of their parents, here comes the new, nearly three-minute glimpse into Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's latest Monster In the third part, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez are thrust into the dark spotlight. The 10-part season will be released on Netflix on September 19th.

The trailer begins with a tense conversation between José (Barden) and his son Lyle, played by Nicholas Chavez, in which José compares his son to a disobedient dog. “I think I didn't hit you hard enough,” José says before slapping his son. “So as a father, this is my fault. And I'm sorry.” He then kisses him on the cheek.

Sevigny's Kitty also confesses, “I hate my children,” and says they have turned her and her husband into parasites. “They have turned us into people we don't want to be.” At one point she tells her sons to their faces, “I regret having you. … I could have been a movie star like Kim Novak. And you are what I got?”

Cooper Koch, as Erik, talks about how “cruel” his parenting is. José throws his sons into rooms and cars, yells at Lyle, then touches them lovingly on the chin. “It was never over,” says Erik. “You could never escape it.” Kitty asks her husband about his relationship with the boys and says she'll keep it between them, and Erik says, “I always wanted to put my relationship with my brother ahead of my relationship with my parents.”

The Menendez case and trial were a media sensation in the early 1990s. Now, 35 years after the murders, Murphy's new Netflix series will re-examine the self-defense theory put forward by the defense team for the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1996. During their original trial in 1993, the brothers claimed they shot José and Kitty after years of being sexually abused by their father and with their mother's knowledge.

After being convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both boys were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After California courts rejected appeals for a decade, they spent their entire adult lives in prison. Now journalist and author Robert Rand hopes to present new evidence that could get their sentences overturned. In 2023, they filed papers requesting new habeas corpus petitions.

Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez is the second part of Murphy and Brennan’s true crime anthology after Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Storythe miniseries about Jeffrey Dahmer, played by Evan Peters, which started in 2022. Netflix turned the series into an anthology after Dahmer's success and ordered two more installments focusing on “stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society,” with the Menendez story being the first installment.

The table of contents for The story of Lyle and Erik Menendez asks: Who are the real monsters?

Here's the full logline: “While prosecutors argued they were trying to inherit their family's fortune, the brothers maintained – and maintain to this day, while serving life sentences without the possibility of parole – that their actions were based on fear of a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents. Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez delves into the historic case that took the world by storm, paving the way for today's audiences' fascination with true crime, and in turn asks the audience the question: “Who are the real monsters?”

Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore, Carl Franklin, Scott Robertson and Bardem serve as executive producers alongside creators Murphy and Brennan. The series is directed by Brennan, Max Winkler, Paris Barclay, Michael Uppendahl and Carl Franklin, with a screenplay by Murphy, McMillan, Todd Kubrak, Brennan and Reilly Smith.