Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a haunting and unsettling true-crime thriller based on the Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer who killed 17 victims between 1978 and 1991. The show follows the life of Dahmer from his early childhood to his adulthood as he begins to transform himself into a full-functioning killer. The 10-episode crime show has been streaming on Netflix since September 21st, 2022, with an average runtime of 50-60 minutes.
The show’s creators include none other than American Horror Story‘s Ryan Murphy and Screen Queen‘s Ian Brennan, along with a stellar cast of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, Niecy Nash as Glenda Cleveland, Richard Jenkins as Lionel Dahmer, Molly Ringwald as Shari Dahmer, Michael Learned as Catherine Dahmer and Rodney Burford as Tony Hughes.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Review
The show is a deep dive into the life of Jeffrey Dahmer and the events that ensue after his last attempted kill. The creators made the decision not to follow a chronological narrative, rather we are transported back and forth to various timelines in Jeffrey’s life as he learns to dissect roadkill, experiment on his victim’s bodies, grapple with his sexuality and eventually go on a killing spree leading to his ultimate arrest and trial.
The first episode begins with a series of thuds and loud noises as Nash’s character listens helplessly in horror as we cut to a body shot of a man cleaning his bloodied gloves in the sink and casually smoking a cigarette in a room consisting of a blood-stained mattress, heavy tools and cleaning equipment. This scene itself is enough to give you the chills.
What follows is a detailed retelling of how Dahmer lured and killed each of his victims in the most brutal and graphic fashion. Through his killings, the show also manages to shed light on a much larger systemic issue of racism and homophobia in America in the 70s and how the justice system facilitated his long killing spree.
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Evan Peters, who plays Dahmer, is brilliant as ever with his flat affect, cold demeanour and calculating eyes. He fully commits to the role both physically and emotionally. Having worked on multiple seasons of American Horror Story, it’s no surprise that Peters was able to embody the role of Dahmer completely. His portrayal of the killer is especially frightening in scenes when we see him go into sudden bouts of rage followed by a menacingly calm demeanour.
On the other hand, we see Niecy Nash in the role of Glenda Cleavland, who persistently tries to uncover the secrets behind the missing black and brown men in her community despite the heavy resistance from the police. In the darkness, she manages to find a sense of hope and will to fight for what’s right.
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Final Thoughts
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is not for the fainthearted. It is filled with extremely graphic and disturbing content with trigger warnings for content depicting sexual assault, violence, gore, suicide, alcohol and drug use. It’s worth a watch if you are fascinated by true crime documentaries and are interested in discovering the aftereffects of such heinous crimes. Dahmer is one of the few true crime shows that manages to highlight the more systemic issues that are at play.
While it successfully connects the many dots that finally led Dahmer to this darkened path, at times, the overlapping timelines throughout the show can be a challenge to keep up with.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is now streaming on Netflix.
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HATE it. Doesn’t even resemble Dahmer in any way physically. Dahmer didn’t have frosted hair. The episodes I watched I was bored out of my mind! Studied criminal psychology in college starting in 1986 because he was “one of a kind”. Skip this, nothing like “real life” in the 80’s.