NoBadPicks

Movies Like My Friend Dahmer

If you loved My Friend Dahmer's History and Drama storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
7.0

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

2019

A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

Bully
6.7

Bully

2001

A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Kent, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.

The Basketball Diaries
7.4

The Basketball Diaries

1995

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Promising Young Woman
7.4

Promising Young Woman

2020

A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.

Kill Your Darlings
7.0

Kill Your Darlings

2013

A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.

Apt Pupil
6.5

Apt Pupil

1998

One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
7.5

We Need to Talk About Kevin

2011

After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.

Palmer
8.1

Palmer

2021

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

More Movies Like My Friend Dahmer

The Devil All the Time
7.2

The Devil All the Time

2020

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

Citizen X
7.2

Citizen X

1995

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.

The Bikeriders
6.7

The Bikeriders

2024

After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

At Close Range
6.8

At Close Range

1986

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man. Inspired by the real events that led to the end of the Johnston Gang, who operated in the northeastern United States in the 1970s.

In Cold Blood
7.5

In Cold Blood

1967

After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

Blitz
6.2

Blitz

2011

A tough cop is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers.

The Outsiders
7.2

The Outsiders

1983

In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival and redemption exposes the fragile innocence and enduring bonds of youth on the wrong side of town.

Zero Day
7.3

Zero Day

2003

Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.

Where the Crawdads Sing
7.5

Where the Crawdads Sing

2022

Abandoned by her family, Kya raises herself all alone in the marshes outside of her small town. When her former boyfriend is found dead, Kya is instantly branded by the local townspeople and law enforcement as the prime suspect for his murder.

Cop
6.3

Cop

1988

An obsessive, insubordinate homicide cop is convinced a serial killer is loose in the Hollywood area and disobeys orders in order to catch him.

Freedom Writers
7.9

Freedom Writers

2007

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
6.7

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

1986

Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with My Friend Dahmer (2017): History and Drama themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of My Friend Dahmer.

See full details for My Friend Dahmer (2017)

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