Curious biopic that can't quite decide whether it should be a coming-of-age tale or something more chilling. The confusion unfortunately makes this seem at times sympathetic to the serial killer.
Yes he is obsessed with dead animals and dissolving their remains in acid, but he seems little different from the awkward adolescents of countless other high school movies. Lynch is good and definitely creepy, but not that creepy....
If you're looking for explanations as to why Dahmer went on to murder, necrophilia and cannibalism; this will only partially satisfy you. We see hints that he is becoming isolated and morbidly inclined. He has a strange obsession with a neighbour jogger and is spending too long in the shed carrying out his infernal experiments. And the family background is troubled in the extreme. With a domineering but neurotic mother, and a weak-willed father.
Throughout the film, Lynch always seems to be fighting to keep his demons in check. At one stage it looks as if he is about to murder their pet Labrador, but he pulls himself back. The film constantly make us feel sorry for him. He's a loner trying to fit in, but his dark side eventually overwhelms him. Every time he reaches out to someone, he is rebuffed. As the rejections mount, his behaviour becomes only more erratic.
The film stops just as his murdering career kicks-off. The film lets us make up our own mind about where to place the blame.
