You certainly can’t accuse Ryan Murphy of not being prolific, with the writer-producer having a number of different projects on his plate, including the ongoing American Horror Story franchise and the recently released Ratched. Murphy’s latest effort, meanwhile, as part of his overall deal with Netflix, will be a Jeffrey Dahmer-focused limited series. Titled Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, this one’s now believed to be going before the cameras in January 2021, COVID-19 permitting.
The creator will be working with many of his regular colleagues, too, including Ian Brennan (Glee) and Janet Mock (Pose), as they all bring Dahmer’s story to life. Richard Jenkins has been cast as the killer’s father, with the lead yet to be identified. The general theme of the show, meanwhile, will involve at least ten examples of where Dahmer just eluded capture and how his white privilege was often a key factor in that. Episodes will range from the 1960s to the eventual arrest of the murderer in the early 1990s, and for more, here’s the synopsis:
“Monster chronicles the story of one of America’s most notorious serial killers, largely told from the point of view of Dahmer’s victims, and dives deeply into the police incompetence and apathy that allowed the Wisconsin native to go on a multiyear killing spree. The series dramatizes at least 10 instances where Dahmer was almost apprehended but ultimately let go. The series also is expected to touch on white privilege, as Dahmer, a clean-cut, good-looking white guy, was repeatedly given a free pass by cops as well as by judges who were lenient when he had been charged with petty crimes.”
For those not aware, Dahmer is one of the most disturbing figures in American history, with his seventeen murders of men and boys also involving necrophilia, cannibalism and the preservation of body parts from his victims. And although real-life serial killers have been included in American Horror Story, and Murphy’s work typically deals with true crime, we’d expect a more sombre tone from this show.
Of course, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is only the latest of various dramatizations of his life, as there was also the Jeremy Renner-starring feature film Dahmer and 2017’s My Friend Dahmer, which looks at his early days. Given the success of Murphy’s work and the long-established appeal of crime-themed programming on Netflix, we’d expect this one to be a major event when it arrives, hopefully later in 2021.
