Dahmer Is Close To Setting An Unbelievable Netflix Record
Dahmer is now the second-most popular English language Netflix series of all time
Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is still killing it in the ratings. The true crime drama topped the streamer’s English TV List for the third week in a row, with more than 205 million hours viewed. Since debuting on September 21st, the show’s collective total of 701 million hours viewed makes it Netflix’s second-most popular English language series of all time.
The fourth season of Stranger Things remains the most-watched English language series ever with 1.35 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, Deadline reports. Netflix’s all-time leader in the first four weeks of release is still Squid Game, the South Korean surprise hit that racked up 1.65 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days on the service. Dahmer meanwhile, has earned more watch time than the first two seasons of Bridgerton in their first four weeks on the platform.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story tells the real-life story of Jeffrey Dahmer. The infamous Milwaukee serial killer and necrophiliac cannibalized many victims during a reign of terror that lasted from 1978 to 1991. The 10-episode Netflix series is told primarily from the perspective of his victims. It also explores the systemic racism and failures of the Wisconsin police that allowed him to continue his murderous spree for over a decade.
Not only does Dahmer provide a closer look at his victims, but it also features the only person who got away and became instrumental in his eventual arrest. Dahmer was sentenced to 15 terms of life imprisonment on February 15, 1992. Following his arrest, the serial killer gave a detailed confession to police, admitting to a total of 17 slayings, according to The Associated Press. He was charged with four counts of first-degree intentional homicide on July 25, followed by eight more murder charges on August 6th and three more on August 22nd.
Dhamer has been a hit with Netflix viewers, but the series received mixed from critics. While they praised the acting, most deemed it exploitative. As a result, the show only holds a 52% critics score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes despite its popularity. The site’s critical consensus says that although the series is self-aware of the peril in glorifying the serial killer, creator Ryan Murphy’s salacious style still tilts the horror story into the realm of queasy exploitation.
The limited biographical crime drama largely benefitted from being released at a time when true crime shows are very popular. So it’s not surprising that Netflix will be exploring the story further with the docuseries Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes coming to the streaming platform later this year. It follows the Conversations with a Killer series about Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. Netflix also aired the 2019 film, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile with Zac Efron as Bundy.
Interestingly, Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was more appealing than any of the previous true crime offerings on Netflix. The incredible performance by Evan Peters in the lead role is probably one reason why people have been tuning in. There has also been a lot of publicity surrounding the series, even though most of it has been due to controversy about its exploitative nature.
