Jeffrey Dahmer was, by any rational estimation, one of the most horrifying human beings of the 20th century. By the age of 31 he had murdered at least 17 men and boys, and then collected, eaten or did other unspeakable things to their dead bodies.

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So it’s a little hard to imagine any filmmaker eliciting too much sympathy for Jeffrey Dahmer, and to his credit, writer/director Marc Meyers doesn’t seem to have made that his goal. His new film, My Friend Dahmer , offers an illuminating look into the life of a burgeoning serial killer in the years just before he committed his first murder. And he doesn’t try to sell you on the idea that Dahmer was just a misunderstood victim of his own compulsions.Instead, My Friend Dahmer brings specificity to the idea we all have of Jeffrey Dahmer. It paints a picture of a young man with all the signs of serious psychological problems - including but not limited to the torture of small animals - but against a backdrop of typical high school lameness. Stupid pranks, casual bullying, unremarkable dances, bickering parents, these are all incidents and moments that many teenagers can relate to, it’s just that Dahmer dealt with them differently than most, and nobody seemed to notice… or care.My Friend Dahmer is adapted from a graphic novel by John “Derf” Backderf, who actually knew Jeffrey Dahmer in high school, and the film isn’t eager to let Backderf off the hook. As played by Alex Wolff, the young cartoonist is a lifeline for Dahmer, a connection to a seemingly normal existence, filled with supportive friends and the attention of his classmates. Together they embark on mean-spirited perfor-mance art and - in a surreal but very true anecdote - a trip to meet Vice-President Walter Mondale, a moment Dahmer himself connived into existence.But these friendships are fleeting, and gradually Dahmer’s off-putting behavior, emotional neediness and eagerness to see what the living things around him looked like on the inside push friends like Backderf away. Marc Meyers’ film never goes so far as to directly blame Backderf for Dahmer’s horrifying actions later on, but it does seem to acknowledge that all the people around Dahmer failed in one way or another. They failed to pay attention, and they failed to get help even if they did.At the center of it all is a truly haunting performance by Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer, who almost always looks like he’s posing for a very uninteresting photograph. But we know there’s more to Jeffrey Dahmer than that, and Lynch exposes the young serial killer’s neediness, violence and isolation in memorably sudden bursts, and in languid, thoughtful scenes of disturbed introspection. He can turn on the charm when he needs to, when he has an audience, but as the film progresses we see a distinct change in what he wants from that audience, and it’s truly horrifying.My Friend Dahmer isn’t a funny movie, though it sometimes has a droll wit. It’s also not a conventionally scary movie, because it’s not about Jeffrey Dahmer’s actual murder spree. The whole film is an exercise in ominous foreshadowing. All these little moments have great meaning because we know what they all lead to, which raises serious and disturbing questions about what all the little moments that happen to us every day could lead to as well, if we’re not paying attention. Or even if we are. And that’s worth taking with you.