I had no idea his home life was that messed up and that his parents basically abandoned him his senior year of high school. His mom was mentally sick too. Also, had no idea he was a goofball in high school.
It was a pretty good movie.
I recently finished watching Dahmer, My Friend Dahmer, Summer of Sam, and Zodiac and was wondering if there were other good movies based on serial killers. Thanks.
I knew quite alot about the Dahmer case going in, and it stayed true to the facts as i know them. I was expecting complete shit, after watching films like 'Wolves At The Door' (2016) and other 'based on true story' type movies but i was pleasantly surprised.
I really enjoyed it throughout because i knew where it was going, and they didnt do anything to take me out the experience at any point.
When I saw the trailer for this movie last year I was really excited to see it. I had completely forgotten about the movie entirely until I saw it at the video store the other night and decided to rent it.
So, obviously this is giving a glimpse at what Jeffery Dahmer was like as a teenager before his first murder. It is based off a graphic novel written by John Backderf, who was "friends" with him for a brief time.
First of all, I thought the casting of Dahmer himself was interesting. I thought the guy looked familiar (Ross Lynch), turns out he was a Disney star, so in my opinion it's really interesting to see someone with that background cast in such a dark role. I do however think he did a fantastic job at playing Jeffery.
To be honest, it was really depressing. I couldn't help but wonder if his home life had been different and if he had had better friends if he would have turned out as he did, but then again I know that when he was arrested he was diagnosed with BPD, SPD, alcoholism, and a psychotic disorder. So, maybe he was naturally wired to be the way he was?
Anyways, back on track. The movie was slow going and at times had me zoning out, but that's because it's not about him as a serial killer but rather the events leading up to his first kill. I probably wouldn't watch it again, but if you're interested in the backstory type thing about serial killers it's worth a watch.
(My apologies if this review just sounds like babbling, I'm 8 hours into a 12 hour shift on only a few hours of sleep!)
I watched this film for the first time this evening and was pleasantly surprised by it. I quite enjoyed the portrayal of Jeffery Dahmer by Ross Lynch. After watching the film I googled him and was impressed by his leap to taking on this acting role (mostly Disney films in his repertoire). I thought the documentary laid out almost a “checklist” of his behaviors that are common in psychopaths and how he struggled in his teenage years. There was so much mystery and tension at times especially in his last scene with his friend Derf.
Has anyone checked out the graphic novel?
Was wondering if this film was any good. It doesn't seem to be distributed amongst online establishments such as amazon and only a few select theatres play it.
I read the graphic novel beforehand so I knew what to expect, but I was still impressed to see it rendered on the big screen. Ross Lynch was perfectly cast as Dahmer, creepy and void of emotion but still fragile and desperate for human connection. The way that the adults in his life seemed to either not care about his evident issues or were rendered incapable of helping him in any meaningful way was one of the more disturbing aspects of the film.
I went to see My Friend Dahmer last night. It wasn't my favorite film of the year, but I did enjoy it. More than anything I think I enjoyed it because it was rather ambiguous. It didn't take the easy route and blame any single person or event on Dahmer's inevitable break. Rather it showed a kind of perfect storm. Mentally ill mother, stressed and overworked father who didn't "get" his son, a lack of attention or affection from either parent, friends who fed into his attention-seeking behavior, a general apathy by pretty much everyone for how everything was affecting Dahmer, and of course, Dahmer's own tendency and decisions to continue feeding his dark side.
Ultimately it's a film, to me, about how mental illness destroys not just your own life, but the lives of those around you. Dahmer's mother let her mental illness go, and that wreaked havoc on the family. In turn, Dahmer's possibly inherited mental illness was allowed to run rampant. We watched him slowly deteriorate in this film. At the start he's already well on his way down the path and we watch that path wind deeper and deeper into the darkest of forests.
One scene in particular stands out as the highlight of the film. Dahmer is exhibiting one of his famous spaz attacks in the mall. There's a moment where the audio and score switches to something a bit more ominous, a bit more somber. We're looking at Jeffry Dahmer tormenting the patrons of a mall for the entertainment of his friends. We're watching him display the culmination of years of mental deterioration as a show. It ran a nice parallel for the Dahmer case itself. It said to me: "yes, here I am. I Am Jeffry Dahmer and I am fucked up. My life is fucked up and I ruined lives, including my own. Is this really entertaining for you? Are your enjoying yourself? Is this fun for you to watch?"
It's very much a poignant moment for me.
I'd definitely like to see more films about serial killers or just bad people in general exploring the more human side of the situation. Painting portraits of damaged humans rather than caricatures of monsters.
It is based on a true story about jeffrey dahmer the serial killer. I didn't know much about dahmer. Just knew that he was an evil man who murdered a lot of men. It is about his high school years. The signs were there but everyone overlooked it. He needed help but he was too far gone. There was something really wrong with him. Ross lynch did a great job as dahmer. Any other movies like it?
Twice - once, as a re-watch, and second with audio commentary! I think my mom will judge me for being super interested in these two films to watch them again.
What i mean is, movies that dont heavily fictionalize what actually happens, the events themselves are already terrifying, they dont need to dramaticized
seriously one of the best movies i’ve seen this year. All of the performances, from Jeff’s parents (especially his mom) to his friends was across the board great. Ross Lynch did something that no disney star from the modern era has done yet, and that is give a breakout performance in a serious movie. Sure, Zac Efron is talented in comedies, but this movie rocked me to my core. Ross’s dead eyes, his fake demeanour to seem normal to society, his vices, were all realized so well with a phenomenal actor. If it’s playing in any theatres near you i couldn’t recommend this enough. 5/7!
The scene when Jeff is in the doctors office while the doctor asks Jeff to lower his pants and cough, after that, the doctor gives him a weird look and tells him to pull his pants up kinda sounding irritating or something, then rushes to the sink, washing his hands roughly looking back at Dahmer. Does anyone know exactly what happened there?😂
To those of you who have seen it: how is it? I see it's got a low:ish rating on IMDB, but could that be because some thought it was going to be a full-on horror/serial killer picture when it's a serious drama?
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