Netflix’s “Dahmer” Review

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By now, I am sure you have watched, or at least heard the buzz, about Netflix’s original series, “Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” This series is a ten episode, true crime documentary based on Jeffrey Dahmer’s real life events. Evan Peters plays the infamous Jeffrey Dahmer and does a freakishly good job of stepping into this role. 

The show is based on real life events, however, the accuracy the directors achieved is remarkable. Down to the victims’ attributes, outfits, and body language, it is as if you are living the horrible past events all over again. 

Although the events in this story are extremely gruesome and tragic, the directors did a great job of educating the audience of the horrific events and details of these events that occurred in the real world. After watching, it is insane to imagine that these things really did happen and that a person is capable of such heinous acts. 

Peters does a sensational job embodying this role. To step into these shoes and try to play a villainous character to the magnitude of someone like Jeffrey Dahmer is trying, and Peters seems to have done so with ease. His vocal inflection is spot on compared to the interviews of Jeffrey Dahmer when he was still alive. He even perfects his body language to include the strange ticks Jeffrey Dahmer had. Peters’ performance in this role was remarkable and gave the series an eerie and disturbing feel about it.  

I cannot talk about the series without mentioning the backlash it has been receiving. Almost immediately after its release, an outrage grew within the public. Victims’ families are outraged. They state that they were never contacted about the making of the show, yet their faces were portrayed in the series. They say this is unfair, and they should have been contacted prior to the filming of the show. One family said it is retraumatizing all over again. This family asked the question, “How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”

The show does a good job of highlighting some of the key political issues that were present in the Dahmer case. It insinuates the idea that racism and homophobia of law enforcement enabled Dahmer to evade arrest and continue his killing sprees. I think these are important pieces to the story and are a big reason why Dahmer was a free man for so long. 

Whether you watched the show or not, you’ve probably at least heard of it by now. Backed up by controversy and real life events, this story has been an interesting talking point since it was released on Sept. 21.

Have you seen “Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story?” Let us know what you think about it in the comments below!