Blu-ray Review: My Friend Dahmer

The Blu-ray package for My Friend Dahmer delighted me before I even opened it. On the back, it reads: “Jeffrey Dahmer (Disney Channel’s Ross Lynch) is an awkward teenager.” The name Disney right after the name Jeffrey Dahmer is absolutely priceless, and the whole idea of this film, depicting Jeffrey Dahmer in high school, might sound at first like a comedy, a dark and twisted comedy. Jeffrey Dahmer, for the two or three people who may not know, murdered seventeen men and boys, keeping their skulls and other souvenirs, and eating some parts of the bodies. But of course he murdered his first victim right after high school, so at this point in his life he was already getting into dark areas. My Friend Dahmer is based on the graphic novel by Derk Backderf, who was Dahmer’s classmate and friend in high school. It stars Ross Lynch as Jeff Dahmer, Alex Wolff as John “Derf” Backderf, Anne Heche as Joyce Dahmer and Dallas Roberts as Lionel Dahmer.

When we first see Jeffrey, he is seated toward the back of the school bus, alone, noticing roadkill and a male jogger through the window. He soon retrieves the dead cat, surprising two classmates when they ask what’s in his trash bag. The kids follow him to a little shed on his property which he uses as his laboratory, and they watch as he pours acid onto the cat to dissolve its skin. One kid asks, “Why are you doing this?” (a line, by the way, that is so many movies). Jeffrey answers frankly, “I like bones.” And indeed he does, for he has quite a collection in that shed.

He has only one friend in school until one day when in class he imitates someone with a speech problem. That gets a laugh, which leads Jeffrey to give a full-blown performance in the hall, seizure and all. A crowd gathers around him, and soon he is approached by Derf, who invites him to become friends with him and his pals. They create the Jeffrey Dahmer Fan Club, and they would often encourage Jeffrey, “Let’s do a Dahmer,” which meant spazzing out in front of people to get a reaction, not killing and dismembering people. But that, as you might imagine, becomes disturbing too.

We see not just his troubles in school, but also his less-than-ideal home life, with a mother who apparently isn’t quite stable herself. (Anne Heche is absolutely wonderful as Jeffrey’s mother.) She is sometimes delightful in her lunacy, like when she’s proud about buying a new car. (Oh my, the glass she drinks from at one point made me laugh, as my parents still have a set of those exact glasses.) Jeffrey’s father, however, is concerned that Jeffrey is spending too much time alone with skeletons in his shed. You feel for his dad, who admits to having had trouble making friends himself.

There are some funny lines, like when Jeff tells another student, “I have to pick up roadkill, but I’m trying to quit.” And I love that after Derf warns Jeff to stay away from a particular guy, saying that he’s a total psycho, the next shot is of Jeff and the guy walking together in the woods. I also love the moment when he asks the one black kid if his insides are the same color as his. And the doctor’s examination scene is really good. Stuff like that is humorous. But the film is not a comedy. There are moments when you really feel for Jeffrey, and other moments when you’re frightened of him. Ross Lynch gives an excellent, captivating performance.

Special Features

The Blu-ray includes a short interview with actor Ross Lynch, who talks about the film and about getting information from Derk. “I think the hardest part of playing Jeffrey Dahmer was actually shaking him off,” he says. He would take long showers at the end of each day to shake off the character. He also talks about shooting in the actual Dahmer house. The special features also include a behind-the-scenes slide show and the film’s trailer.

My Friend Dahmer was directed by Marc Meyers, and was released on Blu-ray on April 10, 2018 through MVD Visual.