My Friend Dahmer — My Friend Dahmer(Blu Ray)

My Friend Dahmer is a part coming-of-age story, part domestic drama, & part subtly psycho study telling the teenage story of US serial killer/cannibal Jeffery Dahmer.The film is a talky, at times arty slow burn- which along the way adds in elements of sly dark humor, moments of building uneasy, and extremely fleeting moments of gore/ violence. If you’re looking for a grim & bloody serial killer flick, with lots of tension/ threat- this isn’t the film for you. But if you after a well acted, intelligent & thought-provoking film about the growth of a human monster- you’ll find much to like here.

The films is a 2017 US production directed by US indie director/ documentary maker Marc Meyers(Witnessing, Approaching Union Square, Harvest), and is based on the graphic novel of the same name, by  John Backderf- who was a school with Mr. Dahmer when he was a teen. It charts the relationship between Dahmer, his rowing parents, few high school acquaintance, and his growing madness.

In the lead role of the late teen Jeffery Dahmer, we have former Disney channel & teen soap TV star Ross Lynch- who gives a wonderfully understated, subtly creepy & cleverly nuanced performance. And he’s surrounded by an impressive supporting cast of Dallas Roberts & Anne Heche playing Jeffery’s father & mother. And Alex Wolff- playing John Backderf, who semi-befriend/ used Jeffrey’s oddness.

The film timeline charts Jeffery Dahmer in his last year of high school, taking in his collection & study of road kill, the fantasy of killing a jogger, his strange public fits( which brought him to the attention of Backderf), and his parent's break-up. With the latter part of the film showing his descent into alcoholism, and madness- with the film ending with him picking up his first victim.

The whole thing is filmed in a slow & moody manner, with the 70’s setting of the story never overplayed. The film only really focuses on a few locations- Dahmer’s high school, his parent’s family home, and the surrounding wooded countryside.  Where we find the awkward, gangly, and bespectacled frame of Lynch, perfectly portray the teen awkwardness, to rising psychopathy of Jeffery Dahmer.

My Friend Dahmer is well made & acted film- which manages to give the viewer a range of emotions/reactions you don’t normally expect from a serial killer film, like sympathy & laughter. It also often managers to go against one's expectations, with some effective shifts in tone from subtly chilling, amusing, and brooding- all making it one of the more original films to appear from the serial killer film genre in sometime.