Credit: Netflix

The spring lineup is sprinting like there’s no tomorrow, and we’re not here to complain. But amidst the excitement of a fresh arrival arc, what many may have forgotten is that Netflix doesn’t excuse departures, which means it’s about time My Friend Dahmer packs its bags.

Directed by Marc Meyers, the biographical crime drama is based on cartoonist John “Derf” Backderf’s 2012 graphic novel about the notorious American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who was friends with him in high school in the 1970s until he began his killing spree in 1978.

So, if you’re noticing the “leaving soon” tag on the title, it’s because My Friend Dahmer is confirmed to leave Netflix next week on April 9th. The deadline leaves you less than a week to prioritise the crime drama before it disappears into the rental-only void.

Although the film’s subject has been focused on in several Netflix titles, including the scripted anthology drama, DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, as well as the documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, My Friend Dahmer feels unusually grounded and uncomfortably normal since it’s based on the memories of a former friend.

Similarly, unlike the more recent Ryan Murphy series, My Friend Dahmer offers a different, quieter kind of chill. If you’re expecting a stereotypical horror recountenance with jump-scares and graphic murders, this is not it.

In fact, the movie concludes right before his first murder actually takes place, making it an unsettling coming-of-age drama, highlighting his unravelling domestic life, the red flags everyone joked or simply ignored, and the ridiculous “Dahmer Fan Club,” initiated by his high school classmates.

My Friend Dahmer doesn’t fall under the go-to true-crime adaptation theory. It doesn’t focus on the victims, the investigation, or the aftermath of Dahmer’s trail of bloodshed. But it meticulously explores the “nature vs nurture” debate, questioning whether early precaution and mindless ignorance could have stopped him, or if he was born as a ghost long before turning into a monster.

While every project focusing on Dahmer brings a sort of eeriness, My Friend Dahmer is twice as disturbing because it shows how easy it is for someone to slip through the cracks of the community.

So, in case you were oblivious to its impending departure status, watch My Friend Dahmer before it leaves Netflix next week.