October 7, 2024

Making the case for The Menendez Brothers

the true crime that's worth your time

The crime
As noted in my review of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, "the 1989 murder of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons, Lyle and Erik…but also possibly the [alleged] rapes of Lyle and Erik by José." 

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(Netflix)

The story
Netflix's unscripted Menendez property, the documentary feature The Menendez Brothers, comes on the heels of Monsters – as well as on the heels of strong pushback against Monsters by various critics, and the Menendezes themselves; and Kim Kardashian's visit to the brothers in prison; aaand on the heels of an announcement late last week that the L.A. County DA is re-reviewing the case evidence in response to a request for resentencing.

The Menendez Brothers comes from respected doc outfit Campfire Studios (American Murder: Laci Peterson and Max's Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, among others; there's a solid interview with the producers at THR), with Alejandro Hartmann (Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?) at the helm, and it's well made. What's more, it brings its story in under two hours – a thoughtful rarity, when so many projects ask for a six-to-ten-hour commitment. 

And like the year's other, non-Campfire Laci Peterson project, Brothers is positioning exclusive access to the incarcerated accused as a primary selling point. Should you buy in?

The just-okay Princeton wings joint Lyle (R) bought during the brothers' so-called spending spree. (Netflix)

Well, like Face to Face with Scott Peterson, a lot of the interview content with the convicted person/s feels like retro-engineered rationalizing – in Peterson's case, the seriousness of his affair with Amber Frey; in the Menendezes', the intra-jail letter Lyle sent to Erik which contained a confession, and was framed by authorities at the time as an escape plan. The net effect in both cases, albeit to differing degrees, is that by the midpoint of the doc, the viewer has started to feel like they have an excuse for everything, no matter how inconsequential, or how much they could better their reputations by sighing that yes, they did or said such-and-so, but it was a mistake and they regret it. Jeffrey MacDonald is another #justiceforme true-crime figure who does that, meeting every single prosecution contention by holding a split hair triumphantly aloft. 

It isn't nearly as off-putting here, and a key element of renewed interest in the case – for both the public and law enforcement – is how much better we understand trauma today, how much more open we are to it as an explanation (if not a defense). I actually do think the Menendezes have grounds to argue that 1) the killing of their parents was voluntary manslaughter via traumatic response, and 2) their time has more than been served. And it's utterly predictable that, in disputed-conviction narratives like Brothers, you hear over-rehearsed justifications from the stories' central figures; this is all they think about, their only goal – "sell" their version and get out.

(That's probably a big part of why Lyle and Erik and others in their circle have slammed Monsters. It's not just that they weren't consulted, although I agree that's not awesome; it's that Monsters seemed to leave room for the belief that the allegations were BS, and the Menendezes can't really leave room for that in their lives with the case in its current posture.)

Erik (L) and Lyle (R) with their father, and victim, José Menendez, in a family photo. (Netflix)

None of that means Brothers isn't worth your time; it's quite good. You won't have seen the photo assets six thousand times in other coverage*; family members, jurors, and prosecutors sit for talking-heads. Pamela Bozanich, lap draped in a sleeping dog, is maybe a little less gracious than she could be, but her "don't come for me, TikTok" mic-drop near the end is pretty great.

*You know who you HAVE seen in these docs a jillion times? Matt GODDAMN Lauer. Absolutely NO reason to use contemporary footage of that fuckwad – none! In a doc on a case centering around allegations of sexual assault, no less. Doc producers, seriously, Lauer is burnt, he's BEEN burnt, and so's your cred if he shows up in your shit. Knock it off, NOW.

I wouldn't mind seeing this doc creative team – or another documentarian I trust; weirdly, I feel like Errol Morris would work well here – doing a feature or three-parter limning the differences between the two trials, and only doing that. Like more than one Menendez property before it, Brothers runs out of steam at the second trial, and a more granular and direct comparison of the two proceedings would be relatively untrodden ground. 

But overall, it's a watchable two hours that doesn't put its thumb on the scale, good for both case aficionados and folks who need more of an overview.