DAHMER

Jeffrey Dahmer lures attractive young men home, where he conducts experiments on and kills them, trying to create a living zombie who will never leave or judge him.

Flashbacks to Dahmer's past reveal that he killed his first victim, a hitchhiker whom he picked up in his hometown of Bath, Ohio, when he was a teenager. The flashbacks also reveal his strained relationship with his father, Lionel, and Dahmer's alcoholism. In the present, Dahmer rationalizes his crimes, which include rape and necrophilia, in Milwaukee over the divorce of his parents and his emotionally isolated childhood.

At a knife shop, Dahmer meets a charismatic young gay Black man named Rodney and invites him home, intending to murder him, but as the night goes on and the conversations get more personal, Dahmer is faced with an emotional crisis; Rodney confesses his romantic feelings for Dahmer, but finds him evasive. During the course of their evening together, Dahmer nearly strangles Rodney with a belt, but Rodney escapes from the apartment.

The film ends with a flashback to Dahmer as a teenager, attending a therapy session at his father's urging. Before dropping him off, Lionel tells his son that he is always there to listen. When Dahmer arrives at the therapist's office, however, he turns away from the door and walks off into the woods. An intertitle then explains that Dahmer was found guilty of killing at least 15 men, and was killed in prison by another inmate in 1994 after serving two years of his life sentence.

Rodney escapes from Dahmer’s apartment after a tense confrontation, and the film closes with a flashback to Dahmer as a teenager turning away from therapy. A title card states that Dahmer was found guilty of murdering 17 men and was killed in prison in 1994.

The film’s ending underscores the cyclical nature of Dahmer’s isolation and inability to seek help, contrasting his missed opportunity for intervention in youth with his eventual, violent capture. It offers no redemption, instead emphasizing the consequences of unchecked pathology and unresolved trauma. The title card grounds the drama in real-world infamy, reminding viewers of the true horror behind the narrative.