Netflix viewers thrown by blunder ‘worse than Game of Thrones coffee cup’

Netflix viewers have been left baffled after spotting a huge blunder in the background of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

The shocking drama is based on the horrific actions of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez who killed their parents in cold blood.

Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, with their bodies left nearly unidentifiable after 15 rounds from two shotguns.

It was soon discovered that Lyle and Erik, at the time aged 21 and 18, were responsible, and eventually confessed to murder and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1996 after three years of proceedings.

The Netflix anthology series, which featured the controversial Jeffrey Dahmer story in 2022, stars Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as Jose and Kitty, while Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch play Lyle and Erik.

The nine-episode drama is a fictional, scripted series, but one scene has raised eyebrows from fans, after a Ring Doorbell appeared in the background of a scene set in the 80s.

The moment in question appears in the second episode, when Lyle and Erik want to begin spending their inheritance, but are unable to access their money or the will.

During a heated discussion, Lyle storms out to meet friends, while Erik is left looking after the safe containing the will in their house.

But viewers instead spotted the camera installed on the door, decades before Ring Video Doorbells were actually introduced.

‘I know damn well that’s not a RING CAMERA??’ @safariirarrii wrote on Reddit.

‘I’m sure the brothers just teleported 30 years into the future for this scene. Why not? It is just as realistic as the rest of the plot,’ @EbbZealousideal3149 slammed.

@Darkmatter_hatter wrote: ‘Brings me back to the good ole’ Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones,’ referencing the infamous coffee cup that made an appearance in the final season of the fantasy series, when Emilia Clarke’s character Daenerys Targaryen was sat right in front of it.

Another Reddit user attempted to explain the blunder, with @sp4nkthru writing: ‘As someone that works in film: A LOT of the time homeowners will agree to removing these kinds of things when the Locations department comes to scout the place, but then when we’re actually prepping the place for the shoot, it’s way more of a hassle than it was anticipated AND costs more (sometimes attached to a secondary security system or electricity panel etc), so we just take the loss to not “burn the location” (make it so that the homeowners don’t wanna rent their place for that production and/or film in general anymore) lol.

‘They definitely knew that was there, but these things can be such an enormous annoyance to remove that a lot of the time is just easier to take the L lol.’

Replying to a question asking why it could not have been edited out, they explained: ‘They could, but it’s a very low priority and more time consuming AND expensive, so likely why it wasn’t done. To be honest, it could’ve even been hidden by some Set Dec piece – which would’ve been way cheaper and easier.

‘The show seems to have been done in a very rushed way, which is how these things just get brushed off – if things are hectic enough during shoot, A LOT of stuff like this gets brushed off because the crew literally just doesn’t have time or hands to deal with it.’

It’s not the only scene that’s caught fans’ attention, after one in particular sparked backlash from both viewers and family members too.

In one scene the brothers, Kitty walks in on Lyle and Erik in the shower together, kissing on the lips.

Relatives of the brothers, who run Lyle’s Facebook page, have shared several posts condemning the series, calling the ‘absurd notion’ the brothers were lovers ‘pure evil’.

Many viewers echoed those sentiments, calling the incestuous portrayal of the brothers as ‘vile’, ‘diabolical’ and ‘disturbing’.

During their trials, the brothers cited years of abuse as the reason for murdering their parents, however, prosecutors argued that their motive was to get their hands on the family fortune, after they’d spent extravagantly on luxury items in the months after the killings.

Prosecutors alleged the brothers were willing to murder their parents to claim their inheritance early, however, their lawyers said it was a matter of self-defense after Jose had allegedly molested them since they were children.

It was also claimed Kitty struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction was potentially an enabler of her husband.

After two initial trials for the brothers resulted in deadlocked juries following the murders of their parents, they were retried together, where evidence of their allegations of sexual abuse was ruled as inadmissible.

Lyle, now 56, testified his father molested him from age 6 to age 8, while Erik, now 53, told jurors his father had started abusing him when he was 6 years old, and that the abuse continued until shortly before the shooting.

The pair were eventually convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder.

Metro.co.uk has approached Netflix for comment.