Based on the 2012 nonfiction graphic novel "My Friend Dahmer" by John "Derf" Backderf, who was friends with Dahmer in high school, former Disney Channel star Ross Lynch's portrayal of Dahmer is largely confined to the killer's teenage years (via IMDb). As a result, the 2017 movie "My Friend Dahmer" never covers Dahmer's killings, leaving Lynch playing a teenage social misfit rather than what he would one day become. Set in the late `70s, the overall script is strong, though, and so, too, are the performances, as Lynch brings a mix of desperation and dread to the role (per IMDb).

Dahmer's teenage interest in roadkill and killing and dissolving animals in acid, as Dahmer would do to his adult victims, are depicted in "My Friend Dahmer," but otherwise, some found the interiority of the Dahmer character to be lacking, It all amounts to a well-done, though creepy, coming of age story rather than an examination of Dahmer's murders. Lynch does nail the serial killer's posture and movements, as his dysfunctional family takes most of the blame for not seeing the troubling signs sooner. As the movie ends where Dahmer's murders begin, one wonders what Lynch could be capable of if the storyline were allowed to continue.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9j2tvcm5hZLK3sdGyZKmnoqm%2FosXApWSonl2fsqey0Z6wZpyRnbqmvoyrmKejlZl6uLvRrKtmrJ9ir6a%2F02g%3D