After finding myself stuck in the click hole of YouTube, I came across a recent interview with Ross Lynch. I had not heard that name since watching the Disney show “Austin and Ally” as a kid, so the video peaked my interest. It was an interview regarding his role in the new independent film, “My Friend Dahmer,” written and directed by Marc Meyers.
“My Friend Dahmer” is a chilling account of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s teenage years. It highlights his rocky home life, peculiar obsession with roadkill, and perhaps most notably, his “fan club.” Consisting of a few boys from his high school, Dahmer’s “fan club” admired him for his public displays of disregard for social norms. He would flail his arms and make strange noises to entertain the group.
“I’m interested in seeing a film adaptation of Jeffrey Dahmer’s life during high school,” said Brenna Lechner, 12. “It’s intriguing to see how someone like Dahmer grew up and how his life was before committing such awful crimes.”
In my opinion, this film is not particularly compelling in the plot. I found myself forgetting that I was watching a movie about a serial killer who brutally murdered 17 men and boys during his lifetime.
However, when I drew back the context of the film, it regained its allure. I watched intently as a young Dahmer stumbles around the halls in his high school, awkwardly persuades a girl to go to prom with him, and eventually picks up his first victim, a young man by the name of Steven Hicks.
The draw of this movie to me is that it made me think. It confused me because of how I felt while watching, and the bizarre story it told, but I did not mind. I enjoyed how thought-provoking it was. It is not the kind of movie with an archetypal plot that wraps up with a nice happy ending and a bow on top. It leaves you questioning, and for that reason, I highly recommend “My Friend Dahmer.”
