ABOVE AVERAGE

Not another serial killer story, you may think, and there are moments when this expansive portrait of one of the most grotesque murderers in American history finds it hard to balance the most barbaric ingredients with the ambition to do the victims justice. On the other hand, one is drawn into the story of how Jeffrey Dahmer was raised, what made him tick and how racism and homophobia kept him safe to continue preying on his young, gay victims, in spite of numerous occasions when he should have been exposed. Dark, depressing, utterly engrossing, and fairly close to the facts (especially that great first episode), with brilliant performances by Evan Peters and Richard Jenkins as a man who found himself to be the father of ”the Milwaukee Cannibal”.

2022-U.S. 534 min. Color. Widescreen. Created by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan. Cast: Evan Peters (Jeffrey Dahmer), Richard Jenkins (Lionel Dahmer), Molly Ringwald (Shari Dahmer), Niecy Nash, Michael Learned, Penelope Ann Miller. 

Trivia: Originally shown in ten episodes, some of which are directed by Carl Franklin and Jennifer Lynch. Co-produced by Jenkins; co-executive produced by Murphy, Franklin and Peters. The story was also told in a feature film, Dahmer (2002); the killer’s youth was depicted in My Friend Dahmer (2017). 

Golden Globe: Best Actor (Peters). 

Last word: “We reached out to 20 friends and family of the victims. We didn’t hear back. We were desperate to get other inputs, so we heavily relied on several sources, magazine articles, books, etc. We tried to interpret the story. But also, going into that, we definitely had something to say. This was the biggest thing that I had ever worked on that explored white privilege. This guy was basically busted 10 times and got away. I wanted to tell that story. I wanted to tell a story about homophobia. I wanted to tell a story about policing. I wanted to tell a story about systemic racism.” (Murphy, Gold Derby)