Netflix has released its latest true crime miniseries following one of society's most infamous serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer.
I have never been a fan of these types of series that seemingly give these horrendous people the platform and fame they do not deserve, but ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ tells the story of his victims and their families more so than him. There is a fine line that must be followed while creating a series of this much weight, where you do not want the victims and their families to be disrespected, but this show did a terrific job at riding that line.
A terrible story that has been told many times already, you may be wondering why you should even watch another project about this monster. The answer is simple: this is a story that does not spend its time trying to make you empathize with Dahmer and rationalize what he did, but instead focuses on the failures of the system that is meant to prevent these horrific crimes from occurring.
With that being said, the miniseries certainly does try to provide context and information as to why Dahmer was the way he was, but it does so in a way where it does not feel like it is trying to excuse his actions. The ability to pull that off is possibly where the series flourishes the best in my opinion. The other aspect where the show is just levels higher than other true crime shows I have watched is with the way that these real-life victims are humanized along with their loved ones. It is truly hear-breaking and devastating to think of anything happening to these people, but the series takes the approach of focusing on the aftermaths of the families and how they were also victims of Dahmer.
From a production standpoint, the show is also done quite well with sets that seem directly pulled from chilling pictures. Evan Peters delivers a haunting and dementing performance as Dahmer that makes me hope he has plenty of friends and counseling available to him following this show because his psyche must have taken a toll with this role.
If there was anything that I had to count against the show in terms of production, it would be the fact that there are a lot of time jumps back and forth that at times can feel a bit convoluted and be a shock as to where you are now.
For fans of the true crime genre or real stories, I would recommend this miniseries, but I would also advise that it obviously is not for the faint of heart as these treacherous events did occur. ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ is available to stream all 10 episodes on Netflix now.