In 2012, artist John "Derf" Backderf released a 224 page graphic novel titled MY FRIEND DAHMER, which told the story of Backderf's friendship with future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer during their teenage years. Filmmaker Marc Meyers quickly adapted that graphic novel into a Black List worthy screenplay, and now the feature adaptation has been made.
Film Rise has picked up the North American distribution rights to MY FRIEND DAHMER, which made its Canadian premiere at the Fantastia Film Festival earlier this month, and plans to release the film sometime this fall. To help audiences prepare for this journey into the mind of a burgeoning murderer, a teaser trailer has been released online and can be seen below.
The film's synopsis:
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys in the Midwest United States between 1978 and 1991 before being captured and incarcerated. He would become one of America’s most infamous serial killers. This is the story before that story.
Jeff Dahmer is an awkward teenager struggling to make it through high school with a family life in ruins. He collects roadkill, fixates on a neighborhood jogger, and copes with his unstable mother and well-intentioned father. He begins to act out at school, and his goofball antics win over a group of band-nerds who form The Dahmer Fan Club, headed by Derf Backderf. But this camaraderie can’t mask his growing depravity. Approaching graduation, Jeff spirals further out of control, inching ever closer to madness.
Ross Lynch stars as Dahmer, with Alex Wolff as Derf Backderf, Vincent Kartheiser as the jogger, and Anne Heche and Dallas Roberts as Dahmer's parents.
Backderf had an intriguing view of Dahmer's path to becoming a killer, and judging by the trailer it is going to be fascinating and troubling to watch this depiction of their friendship play out on the screen.
MY FRIEND DAHMER was filmed in the Akron, Ohio area, with Dahmer's actual childhood home among the locations.