(107 mins., DCP)Ĭosponsored by Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.
Derf was Dahmer’s classmate at Revere High School in Richfield, Ohio. His graphic novels My Friend Dahmer (2012) and Trashed (2015) have been published in multiple languages around the world. Shot in northeast Ohio (including scenes at Dahmer’s childhood home), it's both a remarkable re-creation of late-1970s teen culture and a nuanced portrait of an unbalanced life.Ī graduate of Ohio State, Backderf is the creator of The City, a strip that ran for more than 20 years in alternative newspapers around the country.
Adapted from John “Derf” Backderf’s award-winning graphic novel, the film recounts the increasingly troubled high school years of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. My Friend Dahmer is released on DVD on 30th July.Acclaimed cartoonist John “Derf” Backderf joins us for this preview screening of My Friend Dahmer. Gripping from the start, Lynch is the breakout star, destined to have everyone know his name (not unlike Dahmer himself…). No matter the ethical dilemmas of feeling sympathy towards Jeff, My Friend Dahmer is an eerie origin story of one of America’s most wanted.
Emerging from the screening, we’re left feeling confused – can I feel sorry for a sad, lonely teenager, considering what we know about his future? We start to feel empathetic towards him him, a soon-to-be murderer, taking the lives of 17 young men. We follow Dahmer has he moves from his tumultuous home life, to being tortured by bullies at school, back to his house to witness more screaming arguments. Considering the source material, there has to be a lot of conjecture, especially in the moments hidden from public view (in his bedroom as he fights against his sexuality his twisted dreams sitting in the living room as his parents fight around him). However, like Jeff with his friends, something feels off. With strong performances from the main cast, and a narrative that slowly builds to an uncomfortable crescendo, it’s an enjoyable twist on the typical serial killer horror film/biopic story. You can’t take your eyes off him, and despite knowing the horrors he goes on to commit in the future, we can’t wait to watch what happens next.Īdapted from Backderf’s graphic novel of the same name, My Friend Dahmer chronicles Jeff’s senior year of school, as he teeters on the edge of ‘losing it’. The slouch in his shoulders, the frown, the shuffle as he walks – Lynch is brilliant. His standout performance as Dahmer is fascinating so studied, so creepy, so real. Ross Lynch might be a new face to many, but he won’t be for long. But as the practical jokes start to take a mean twist, verging on bullying, and Jeff starts to distance himself, the people closest to him start to suspect that he isn’t as ‘normal’ as he’s made himself out to be. He’s welcomed into their circle, and they’re surprised they’ve never noticed Jeff before – he’s funny, a fellow nerd, and is happy to be centre of attention by pulling pranks. Finally how can people see the film today and where should we direct people to My Friend Dahmer is currently available for purchase or rent on iTunes, Amazon. Jeff isn’t like the other kids in his neighbourhood, that’s clear.Īfter acting out at school, causing a scene by pretending to have a fit on the hallway floor, Dahmer impresses John ‘Derf’ Backderf ( Alex Wolff) and his friends. With his mother recently released from a psychiatric unit, and with his parents on the brink of a messy divorce, the shed is his sanctuary, a place to hide away from the shouting at home and the staring and whispers of his classmates.
As a loner, he spends all of his free time in his shed, soaking roadkill in acid to strip it of its skin – in his words, “I like bones”. Jeff Dahmer (played by Disney channel alum Ross Lynch) is the ‘weird kid’ at his high school. But does My Friend Dahmer live up to its notorious title character’s reputation? As a self-confessed true crime addict (hello to any fellow Murderinos reading), hearing the news that director Marc Meyers was working on a Jeffrey Dahmer biopic was welcome.