Les Frères Menendez

I waited to watch this documentary instead of the Monsters series that came before it as I'm generally more fascinated to hear from the actual people involved in the case, rather than actors pretending they were there. This documentary is certainly intended to be more sympathetic to the brothers, however I still like the fact it uses real footage of the trial, the media reporting at the time, that you get to hear from actual jurors and the brothers themselves. You can go back and forth about what the documentary left out; those who don't believe the brothers will criticize it that it's too sympathetic to them, equally those who do believe them can point out to more testimony and evidence of their abuse that the documentary didn't show.

Regardless which side of the fence you come down on, I find it very difficult one can argue that their second trial allowed them a fair opportunity to put forward a defense. To not allow numerous testimony from family members, doctors, photos, letters etc that could potentially show how they were abused for years which is central to the defense's explanation of what influenced their actions that night feels incredibly prejudicial. Whether the jury then accepts this version of events is a separate matter, but surely the point of the judicial process is that they have the opportunity to hear the evidence for it. Certainly I think there was political pressure to not allow another acquittal of a high profile defendant for murder with OJ Simpson being acquitted just a week prior to much of the public's disgust. These two factors I think greatly taint their second trial and the inevitable verdict from it that they've now served 34 years for.

The prosecutor Pamela comes off as very unlikable towards the end as well. It's fine if she doesn't believe them, and while I agree TikTok in general is a stain on society, to facetiously joke you'd use a firearm in defense against "TikTok people" as you in the same breath rubbish the Menendez's defence of using a firearm against their alleged abuser is a staggering lack of self-awareness. She also dismisses the social media 'campaigns' for them to be released, which, youthful exuberance and folly aside I'm sure hold little legal grounds, but she does so by acting incredulous that that would make a mockery of the justice process. "Why don't we hold TikTok trials or a poll" she says with indignation, but apparently she's fine with a judge not admitting the majority of a defense's evidence and unfairly influencing the outcome of a trial.

I'm not sure how much legal basis there is for them to have another trial since they already had an appeal denied. I'm sure there are legal minds already exploring options with this case in the spotlight again, so the saga might yet continue in the coming years. Society today is certainly more acknowledging of sexual abuse victims, and how grooming and power dynamics affects how they react to their abuse. If you accept they were abused, and there's certainly much testimony and evidence to support it, then 34 years in jail from a tainted second trial in the 90s when abuse against boys/men was largely ignored feels like an injustice.

Having watched the other Netflix show on the Menendez Brother in Monsters, I walked away still feeling like I wasn't sure what really happened. We can all have an opinion but I hope not everyone watches that show and thinks they can without a doubt know what happened because they filled in so many wholes with speculation it's marred the true facts.

This documentary was very good in hearing from the brothers as well as other important figures during the trials. It also highlights without a doubt that the second trial was a farce and that the brothers deserve in the very least an appeal. I believe they were both sexually abused and although this is no means a reason to murder your parents, I feel if they had of had a fair second trial, they would have received a manslaughter conviction. This means, and I agree, they have paid their dues to society and should be released. This is my opinion but the law must make a decision on their outcome, which is in discussion now. I hope this time they hear all the testimonial evidence from the relatives and finally give these boys a fair hearing.

I've known about this case for years, but recently watched the Monsters TV series based on the case, which is basically a lightly fictionalized docuseries.

This instead is a documentary, with footage of the real trial, and with the brothers' narration. I recommend watching this documentary after watching the Monsters TV series, to get a more complete picture of the dynamics.

In this documentary, they want you to be more inclined to believe the siblings' abuse, and they succeed at doing it. I can't say whether I believe in the abuse or not, there is evidence that it happened, and at the same time there is evidence that they lied and pretended about many things, one thing does not exclude the other. But one thing is certain, both in this documentary and in the Monsters series, the second trial was not done correctly, it was not carried out guaranteeing a fair and impartial trial, it was carried out starting a priori that the only possible output would be the life imprisonment.

The Menendez brothers killed two people, and for this they deserve to serve a long sentence, but they do not deserve to be deprived of the right to a fair trial.

If their trial had taken place today, they would probably have already finished serving their sentence.

Solid documentary. It could have been a little less one sided. I understand from another documentary that there's some incriminating evidence than if it were purely self-defense (such as a recorded telephone conversation between Lyle and a friend).

We can't know for sure what happened behind closed doors in the Menendez family, I'm inclined to believe them.

In any case, what the documentary certainly achieves is that you will find the brothers more sympathetic than the first prosecutor (Pamela Bozanich), even if they were cold blooded killers.

Her behavior and attitude will infuriate you. She comes across as a typical narcissist. But perhaps because of her defensive behavior and certain things she says, you get the impression that somewhere she knows that she might have been wrong.

Her latest comments are ridiculous ("The only reason we're doing this special is because of the TikTok movement to free the Menendi" and "If that's how we're gonna try cases now, why don't we just, like, have a poll? You present the faces, everyone gets to vote on TikTok, and then we decide who gets to go home"). What is wrong with her to make such statements??

Finally, she threatens Tik Tok people who have a different opinion than herself by saying that she is heavily armed. Sounds like an aggressive toddler.

I just had to get this off my chest. Thank you.

Finally, a complete revelation of the facts. When children (or anyone) are subjected to systematic psychological and sexual abuse, they are emotionally and mentally dysregulated.

People asking, "why don't they leave, why don't they tell the police?"...do not understand how psychological control works. Their family was a cult of 4. These brothers were completely irrational, illogical...mentally unwell.

Of course they were! Anyone who had lived their torturous childhood would be the same.

This documentary includes corroborating stories to support the disgusting abusive nature of their father, and the lack of care from their mother.

Sometimes with this type of abuse there is only one way out. If you have not experienced it personally, you wouldn't understand.