The Menendez Brothers Movies & TV Shows: Adaptations of Erik & Lyle’s Story
Lyle and Erik Menendez’s case inspired multiple film adaptations in popular culture. See all of the TV shows and movies based on their story, here.
Brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez‘s case has been adapted for the small and big screen since the early 1990s. From TV movies such as Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills to TV shows including Netflix’s recently released installment to its Monsters anthology series The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the duo’s case has had a long-term impact on the public.
Countless other films and television shows have also referenced the Menéndez brothers‘ lives. Below, Hollywood Life has rounded up the list of TV shows and movies based on their story.
Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills
This CBS television film premiered in May 1994, about a year after the brothers’ trial made headlines around the U.S. Actors Damian Chapa and Travis Fine portrayed Lyle and Erik, respectively.
Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders
This 1994 TV movie also premiered in 1994. Per its IMDb synopsis, the film follows “the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who murdered their wealthy parents in Beverly Hills in 1989, claiming they were acting self-defense after years of abuse.”
Billy Warlock played Lyle, and David Berón played Erik in the movie.
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is reportedly loosely based on the Menendez brothers’ ordeal. Created by Quentin Tarantino, the 1994 flick stars Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, and Tom Sizemore. Though it opened with a successful box office, the movie was criticized for its violent content.
Menendez: Blood Brothers
This 2017 TV film premiered on Lifetime and starred Courtney Love in the role of Lyle and Erik’s late mother, Kitty. Nico Tortorella played Lyle, while Myko Olivier portrayed Erik.
Per its premise, Menendez: Blood Brothers tells the story of “Lyle and Eric Menendez, [who] were nice, educated boys from Beverly Hills, which makes the murder of their parents even more inexplicable. Never-before-seen details emerge in this investigation into their lives.”
Law & Order: True Crime — The Menendez Murders
Edie Falco is front and center in the new Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders poster: https://t.co/rWXW6zDUBN pic.twitter.com/8R7Hdy20q5
— E! News (@enews) August 1, 2017
NBC aired this 2017 eight-episode special as part of the Law & Order anthology series, Law & Order True Crime. Actress Edie Falco plays the role of the Menendez brothers’ defense attorney Leslie Abramson. Actor Gus Halper plays Erik, while Miles Gaston Villanueva plays Lyle.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
As the second installment to the Monsters anthology series, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story “chronicles the case of the real-life brothers convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez,” per its synopsis on Netflix.
“While the prosecution argued they were seeking to inherit their family fortune, the brothers claimed — and remain adamant to this day, as they serve life sentences without the possibility of parole — that their actions stemmed out of fear from a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse,” the rest of the premise reads.
Actors Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch play Lyle and Erik, respectively. Well-renowned actor Javier Bardem plays the role of Lyle and Erik’s late father, José Menéndez, while Chloë Sevigny portrays their mother, Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. Dallas Roberts plays psychologist Dr. Jerome Oziel.
The Menendez Brothers
A new documentary film featuring recorded phone calls between the Menendez brothers and director Alejandro Hartmann from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where they are serving life sentences, was released on Netflix on Monday, October 7, at 3:00 a.m. ET.
“For the first time in 30 years, and in their own words, both brothers revisit the trial that shocked the nation,” the streaming platform stated about the upcoming film. “Through extensive audio interviews with Lyle and Erik, as well as lawyers involved in the trial, journalists who covered it, jurors, family members, and other informed observers, acclaimed Argentinian director Alejandro Hartmann offers new insights and a fresh perspective on a case people think they know.”
The film includes interviews with both Erik and Lyle Menendez, along with new interviews featuring their cousin Diane Vander Molen and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich, according to Netflix.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
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