A month into its OTT release, Dahmer becomes 2nd biggest series ever on Netflix

True crime is the trending genre at the moment and it seems people cannot have enough of it. The latest to join the list of extremely popular true crimes is Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The Netflix series made its debut on September 21 and in less than a month’s time, it has overtaken some of the most viewed shows on the platform to become the second biggest series ever. The series has broken multiple records and topped Netflix’s English TV Top 10 list for the third week in a row. So, let us take a look at the records broken by this OTT release.

According to a report by Variety, Dahmer was watched for 205.33 million hours for the week of Oct. 3-9. This has pushed the overall numbers of the show to a total of 701.37 million hours watched. As a result, it has now received more watch-time than seasons 1 and 2 of Bridgerton in their first four weeks on the service. The show now sits only behind the fourth season of Stranger Things which was watched for 1.35 billion hours total in its first 28 days.

It should be noted that this record is for English TV shows only, as Squid Games still sits on the top of all-time with 1.65 billion hours viewed in the first four weeks of its release.

Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story made its OTT release on Netflix

The series was created by famed writer, director and producer Ryan Murphy alongside Ian Brennan. Murphy is famous for his work on Glee, American Horror Story and Ratched. The story of Dahmer follows the infamous serial killer and necrophiliac Jeffrey Dahmer who murdered and cannibalized 17 victims between 1978 and 1991. The 10-episode series is narrated from the perspective of his victims.

Despite its popularity, the show has not been able to escape criticism. The series 52% critics’ score on Rotten Tomato with the most common complaint being that it lacks identity. A Guardian report also claimed that the series has fetishized the murderer at the expense of the victims and called it “the most exploitative TV of 2022”.

The series is polarizing but if you want to watch it at your own discretion and understand the reason behind his popularity or lack of critical acclaim, it is streaming on Netflix. You will need a subscription to the platform in order to watch it.