‘Monsters’ Stars Break Down Erik Menendez’s ‘Powerful,’ 33-Minute Single Take in Episode 5: ‘You Couldn’t Look Away’
variety.comCooper Koch) gives a detailed, emotional account of the childhood abuse that he suffered. Erik’s speech comes after he and his brother have been detained for the murder of their parents Jose and Kitty (Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny), during a conversation with his lawyer Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor).
It’s a striking divergence for the series, bifurcating its nine-episode season with a conspicuously shorter episode that gives Erik an uninterrupted spotlight to articulate the darkness at the heart of the story — but also strands him from the support of his older brother, Lyle (Nicholas Chavez).
In her review of the series, Variety TV critic Aramide Tinubu called “The Hurt Man” a “standout” of the series, and the culmination of an “excellent” first half of the story.
With no cuts or edits in the episode, and the character of Abramson only seen from behind, “Monsters” rests on Koch’s shoulders for those 36 minutes. “We shot it eight times — four times a day for two days,” Graynor said. “We were scheduled to have a bunch of rehearsal.
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