The biographical drama film My Friend Dahmer directed by Marc Myers was based on the 2012 graphic novel by cartoonist John Baclderf. The movie was released to Hulu on November 3, 2017 and includes Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer, Dallas Roerts as Dahmer’s father, Anne Heche as Dahmer’s mother, and Alex Wolff as Derf.
I would rate this movie a 8/10. I thought that this movie did a good job depicting the deranged behavior of a famous serial killer. I also enjoyed the suspensful parts that kept viewers guessing what Dahmer would do next. I feel the cast did a good job, and I feel that the main character looks pretty similar to who he was supposed to be. I feel this added to the feel of the movie and made it seem more believable. The movie predominantly focuses on what his early life was like and his high school years. I feel that many documentaries do not show how bad the home dynamic was between his mother and father and this movie did a good job of showing it. I also liked how instead of focusing on his adult life and what he eventually did, it focused on what led him to do what he did.
While the true story of what happened with this notorious killer is chilling, the movie shows his upbringing and early life along with the obstacles he faced. I feel that this evoked a feeling of sympathy because of his loneliness and strangeness while still having a disturbing undertone. I also felt empathetic toward the character due to this but also a sense of uneasiness which was foreshadowed by the director of what was in the making of this character. The movie also depicts how Dahmer is facing his inner demons but instead of beating them he joins them. I really liked this movie due to the mixed emotions that I felt while watching and the sense of suspense of not knowing when something unexpected happened. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes thrillers or documentaries.
