68
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenIn its fusion of craft and narrative, My Friend Dahmer is exquisite. In its portrayal of Jeff's agonies, it can be excruciating.
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanAs you watch the movie, its central idea — that Jeffrey Dahmer wasn’t just born, he was made; that he started off as an actual human being — has a shocking validity that never undercuts the extremity of his crimes.
- 90Village VoiceApril WolfeVillage VoiceApril WolfeMy Friend Dahmer is both sensitive and fascinating, distinguished by a stellar, mouth-breathing performance of insecurity from Lynch.
- 80Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyMeyers’s drama depends mostly on what it doesn’t show you, and it works.
- 75The PlaylistKyle KohnerThe PlaylistKyle KohnerAlthough the film depicts a fledgling psychopath salvaging roadkill with his bare hands, soaking them in acid in order to collect their bones and finding himself flirting with murderous intentions on several occasions, Meyers’ drama is paradoxically humane and affecting — a direction few thought was possible when deliberating the essence of a real-life monster.
- 75The A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe A.V. ClubKatie RifeIt’s another portrayal of mental illness that keeps My Friend Dahmer from fully immersing viewers in its reality.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversA warped wonder of a movie that takes twisted to areas few have investigated.
- 70The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyThis film is sensitively wrought. It’s credible in its evocation of mid-’70s suburbia. The acting is excellent throughout, and Ross Lynch in the role of Dahmer elicits genuine sympathy for an increasingly lost but not yet monstrous soul. But in abandoning the subjective perspective of the graphic novel, My Friend Dahmer feels a little lacking in purpose.
- 40TheWrapInkoo KangTheWrapInkoo KangWith its observational dispassion, My Friend Dahmer doesn’t quite help us understand why Jeff is so into killing, and it’s pretty much useless when it comes to clarifying how he justifies committing such atrocities to himself.
- 38Slant MagazineChristopher GraySlant MagazineChristopher GrayThe film wants to treat Jeffrey Dahmer like a character, but it invariably frames him like a specimen.