‘Dahmer’ Starring Jeremy Renner Explores the Motivations of a Monstrous Killer [Murder Made Fiction]

When hearing the words Jeffrey Dahmer and early aughts horror combined, most genre fans would expect a grisly and upsetting film; an adaptation told with torture porn flair, filled to the brim with bloody power tools and decaying flesh. What they wouldn’t expect is a tender and contemplative drama that softens the details of one of history’s most upsetting murder sprees.

But that’s exactly what David Jacobson delivers with Dahmer (2002), a relatively bloodless film exploring the serial killer’s motivations. Though he commits atrocious crimes, Jeff (Jeremy Renner) is a quietly charming and persuasive loner who lures a young man named Rodney (Artel Great) back to his apartment in hopes of keeping his body with him forever. 

The film follows a single night near the end of Dahmer’s reign of terror, intercut with scenes from his troubled adolescence. Jacobson also dramatizes Dahmer’s first known kill, taking curious liberties along the way. Co-hosts Jenn Adams and Joe Lipsett tackle this rich and surprising adaptation while praising Great’s scene-stealing performance in the latest episode of Bloody FM’s Murder Made Fiction Podcast.

From Renner’s cold depiction of a killer, to subtle deviations from actual events, they’ll examine the filmmaker’s narrative lens. How does Jacobson present Dahmer’s queerness? Are so many flashbacks really necessary? What do they think of the film’s shocking ending and is the skeleton in Jeff’s living room supposed to be real?

Join Joe and Jenn as they continue to work their way through texts inspired by the Milwaukee Monster.

And if you want even more Murder Made Fiction, be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and Joe have ~8 hours of bonus content.

Episodes this month include in-depth discussion of the entire first season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story episode by episode, as well a discussion of the Tubi documentary Killing Dahmer and a full-length primer with details about the case.