‘Dahmer’ scenes were edited to avoid creating sympathy for the serial killer

Stephanie Filo, editor on Dahmer – Monster: A Jeffrey Dahmer Story, has explained how she edited certain scenes so audiences wouldn’t feel sympathy towards him.

Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the Netflix series follows the life and crimes of the American serial killer, played by Evan Peters.

Speaking to Variety, Filo detailed how a scene in episode four, where Dahmer returns home from the army to have Christmas dinner with his parents, was altered to reduce the chance of it gaining a sympathetic reaction from viewers.

“That used to play as one full scene, but it felt too heavy on their family dynamic,” Filo said.

In the final version, the scene was intercut with other events to provide further context for his crimes. She added: “That intercutting and seeing the weird things he’s been up to helped give context to the horrific things that were happening instead of having a guy just hanging out with his parents.”

In a scene from episode eight where victim impact statements are read, Filo said she felt a responsibility to ensure she was being respectful to those involved. “I finally tackled it once I was in the right headspace for it, and that’s how a lot of cutting this series felt,” she added.

When it was released last year, Dahmer – Monster: A Jeffrey Dahmer Story faced criticism from multiple family members of Dahmer’s victims, with one claiming it had “retraumatised” them.

The next season of Monster is set to focus on brothers Lyle and Erik Menéndez, who were sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of shooting their parents inside their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story is scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2024.

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