Netflix ‘The Menendez Brothers’ Director: Lyle and Eric Should Be Released

In the lucrative world of true crime entertainment 1989 film murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez their adult sons Lyle and Eric continue to be a big deal.

In the three decades since the brothers’ televised trial captivated the nation, they have been the subject of numerous made-for-TV films, documentaries,“Saturday Night Live” parodypodcast episodes and, most recently, the Ryan Murphy episode. Netflix’s controversial series “Monsters”“

But among the wealth of material about Menendez in Alejandro Hartman’s new Netflix documentary, there’s one thing that’s missing from most of the Menendez docs: Both brothers tell their story in their own words.

“The Menendez Brothers,” released on Netflix in October, features more than 20 hours of interviews conducted with Lyle and Eric during their incarceration at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.

The brothers spoke about the same project case for the first time in nearly 30 years when they sat down with Barbara Walters in 1996, shortly after they were convicted of murder in their second trial.

Through additional interviews with other family members and people involved in the brothers’ trials (including Pamela Bozanichchief prosecutor in the first trial, which still refutes the brothers’ claim that they killed their parents in self-defense after years of abuse), the documentary paints a holistic picture of a case we think we already know everything about – when opened, a door allows the viewer to come to new conclusions.

“I just wanted to tell this story with my eyes as wide open as possible,” Hartmann told Business Insider, “having a prosecutor and having different opinions, because I wanted to hear those opinions, too.”

Below, Hartmann discusses how he got the brothers to open up to him and whether he thinks Lyle and Eric should be released.

The Menendez Brothers director says being a foreigner gave him new perspective on a decade-old case.

Hartmann, originally from Argentina, was not particularly familiar with the infamous murder case when he signed on to direct. But he said having no prior knowledge allowed him to approach the project with an open mind.

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He also used his outsider status to woo Lyle Menendez, whom he knew would be the hardest to get into an interview. (Eric previously participated in the 2017 A&E docuseries The Menendez Murders: Eric Tells All.)

After connecting with Lyle approaching his wife for the first timeHartmann wrote Lyle an email explaining that he was non-American and hinting that he might have a different perspective on the case than Lyle expected.

This helped seal the deal. “It was very important for him to take part in the documentary and talk to me,” Hartmann told BI. Lyle then encouraged Eric to contact Hartmann as well.

The director said that the key to gaining the brothers’ trust was to gradually establish genuine rapport. “Sometimes I gave him my opinion, which I don’t usually do with my interlocutors,” Harmann recalled of his conversations with Lyle about his case.

It also helped that Hartmann could take his time. “I didn’t have a deadline, so I had all the time in the world to talk to Lyle,” the director said. Lyle, who was serving a life sentence in prison, also seemed to have a lot of time to talk.

He’s seen some of “Monsters,” but doesn’t compare his doc to the show’s script.

Although there have been remarkable dramatized adaptations of this case before… Eddie Falco was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role as lawyer Leslie Abramson in Law & Order: True Crime: The Menendez Murders, which aired on NBC in 2017 – neither of which made as big a splash as “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.” Netflix series from creator Ryan Murphy.

The series received over 30 million views in its first two weeks of release, topping the Netflix streaming chart. According to Nielsen, this over 2 billion minutes watched.

Hartmann said that when he started working on the documentary, he had no idea that a high-profile TV series about the case was also in development, let alone that it would be on the same streaming service and would be released weeks before. documentary film. He ended up reading the news in a trade publication when the series was publicly announced.

Although he’s watched a few episodes of Monsters since then, Hartmann wasn’t annoyed by all the fuss surrounding the dramatized series based on the same crime as his new documentary—he’s been through it before.

“Two other documentaries I’ve done have scripted” the same story, he said. “And it made a lot of noise because people sometimes think the case is well represented. Some other people think it’s not reflected very well. And this will always happen.”

When asked about projects like “The Menendez Brothers” and “Monsters” bringing new attention to the case, Hartmann acknowledged that the renewed interest could benefit the brothers, but noted that he couldn’t speak on their behalf and wasn’t talking with them especially. more than a year, with the exception of a few letters. (Documentary film production wrapped in 2023.)

He now believes the Menendez brothers should be released.

Although Hartmann did not have an opinion on the case included in the project, he has since formed one: he believes the brothers should be released.

(A few days after our interview, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 24 that he would review new evidence and recommend resentencing the brothers, which could lead to their immediate release after decades in prison.. A subsequent request for comment sent to Hartmann and Netflix amid the news was not returned.)

“I understand and believe them that they were abused, but they committed a crime,” Haarmann said.

“I think they deserve to be punished,” he continued. “But I think 30 years might be enough.”

Regardless of whether the brothers are eventually resentenced and released from prison, Hartmann is grateful that his documentary and “Monsters” are bringing more attention to child sexual abuse.

“If people are talking about it, I’m very happy,” he said, “and I think it’s good for society.”

The Menendez Brothers is streaming now. Netflix.