this performance would be remarkable if he hadn't already invented the very notion of acting, let alone singing and dancing, in the critically acclaimed musical-sci-fi-drama-romance Teen Beach Movie (2013)

get you a man who can sing, surf, AND commit murder

It's hard to believe that this Ross Lynch is the same Ross Lynch who so brilliantly captures Dahmer's hunched, blank-faced, drunken aura. Lynch spends most of the film expressionless yet he conveys so much through so little. The smallest smile. An awkwardly delivered line. He's perfect. His Dahmer is as sympathetic as he is terrifying. The film outside of Lynch is also solid and subtle (it helps that the source material—Backderf's fantastic graphic novel—is excellent). This is not a gruesome retelling of murders. Instead it is a collection of quiet, affecting, occasionally distressing vignettes that build to the creation of a serial killer. There are a few stylistic missteps, but really, it's difficult to imagine an adaptation being much better than this.

Closet Monster II: Jogger Fucktoy Edition

teen beach movie 3 is looking a little different

7.5/10

Much more than a movie about a serial killer.

Fantastic Fest 2017 film #13:

Lots of incredibly mixed and complicated emotions about this movie with the ethical responsibilities of humanizing a monster in this way and how it intertwines with the queer themes. Also, real people died...exploitative?

Fantastic Fest 2017

'My Friend Dahmer,' based on the graphic novel and telling the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's high school years, paints the portrait of a troubled man who falls through the cracks at every turn. He is exploited by friends, he has no outlet to help him sort through his confusion regarding his sexuality, and his home life is ashambles. This film never posits that Dahmer's terrible actions could have been prevented, but still wonders what might have changed if he HAD gotten help.

There is debate as to whether monetizing and commercializing serial killers helps to glorify them, and I think this is an important debate, one I don't have the answer to. I watched this film for what it was, and what it was was good, not great. I felt at times like the connective tissue holding this movie (and really, this character) together wasn't as cohesive as it needed to be.

Man, what an incredibly unsettling movie. The real horror is how relatable and real his situation feels.

never follow a teen boy to a second location

Far out man.

A good friend of mine produced this and asked me to give feedback on an unfinished version, so not appropriate for me to weigh in on it, publicly, one way or another. Simply logging for posterity's sake.

If you're a fan of the graphic novel then you won't be disappointed.