Anya Gore
Staff Writer
Netflix’s new series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a very impactful and sentimental crime drama about the lives of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and his victims. The incredible acting, powerful scenes, and realistic conversations deliver this truly terrifying story incredibly.
The Netflix Original was released on September 21, 2022 consisting of 10 episodes which were each 55 minutes long on average. Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was directed by Emmy Award winner Ryan Murphy. According to him, the goal of the show was to give the victims and their families a voice.
After just arriving on Netflix, this series has reached number one in 75 countries. According to Fox News, it has become the second-biggest English-speaking series in Netflix history. The main cast consists of Evan Peters starring as Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Jenkins as Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey’s father, and Niecy Nash as Glenda Cleveland, Jeffrey’s neighbor and main suspecter.
The actors all do an outstanding job portraying their roles and embodying the emotions and actions of their character to the fullest. This gives the viewer the feeling of experiencing these traumatic events, and what led up to them, first hand. Since almost each character’s family is given a backstory, the viewer is able to connect and sympathize with them well, putting the viewer in their shoes.
Because this is a crime drama, it causes some of the scenes to be exaggerated for dramatic effect, yet many scenes are almost identical recreations of the true events. For example, during Dahmer’s trial when the families of the victims spoke out, everything was on point including the word by word script, outfits, and even the facial expressions and hand gestures.
Since this show is based on very serious true crimes, comedic elements are not expected or necessarily appropriate. Surprisingly, there are a few occasional jokes, which flow very well. These puns create a good balance and blend between humor on one hand, and sorrow and loss on the other.
Despite the many strengths in this show, some of the show’s most important information relating to Dahmer’s early life and crimes is inaccurate. The reason for this is to create a more dramatic effect to keep viewers engaged. Although some of these changes do keep the audience hooked to the show, the extreme exaggerations and changes cause flaws in the true storyline and directly misinform viewers.
Although most of the show is well organized and labeled with time stamps, some of the later episodes jump around a bit, making it unclear exactly how much time has passed between events. For example, in the last episode when Dahmer is imprisoned, two years pass but there is no way of the audience knowing that unless they’ve researched the case before.
All in all, the unbelievable acting and emotion behind each cast member makes Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story a moving and heart-wrenching show, sharing a powerful and touching story.
The full limited season of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which is rated TV-MA, is available for streaming on Netflix.
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