My Friend Dahmer

 Year: 2017

Director:  Marc Meyers

Screenplay:  Marc Meyers, based on the graphic novel My Friend Dahmer by John "Derf" Backderf

Starring:  Ross Lynch, Anne Heche, Alex Wolff, Dallas Roberts, Tommy Nelson, Vincent Kartheiser

Running Time:  107 minutes

Genre:  Drama

1970s Ohio:  High school student Jeffrey Dahmer (Lynch) is a strange young man, with an unhealthy interest in dissecting animals.  Jeffrey and his younger brother David (Liam Koeth) have a difficult family life with their mentally ill mother (Heche) and a father (Roberts) who tries but fails to connect to Jeffrey.  Jeffrey's acting out at school soon draws the attention of a group of students, including aspiring artist John "Derf" Backderf (Wolff) who befriend him and persuade him to participate in a variety of pranks.  However as time goes on, Jeffrey begins to go down a far darker path.

Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history who murdered at least 17 boys and young men before his arrest in 1991.  My Friend Dahmer is an unconventional true crime film, because it doesn't concern itself with any of his crimes.  It's based on an acclaimed 2012 graphic novel by cartoonist John "Derf' Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, and the bulk of the film concentrates on their senior year at high school in 1978.  The film is almost like a low-key domestic drama, about a troubled teenager, it really depends a lot on the audience's familiarity with Dahmer and his crimes for it's full effect.  The film has some very good performances, particularly from Ross Lynch, who gives a creepy performance as the dead eyed Dahmer.  The film humanises a monster, showing his troubled life and portraying him as a weird, unhappy teenager.  The film mentions the fact that Derf and his gang are arguably exploiting Dahmer by really using him for their entertainment, they use the term "doing a Dahmer" for his attention-seeking pranks such as impersonating a local interior designer with cerebral palsy, suddenly making loud noises, and sneaking into yearbook photos, among other things.  This is an effective, and chilling look at what makes a monster, that manages to feel empathetic and not exploitative.

       Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer