Audience viewership The first season rose to the number one spot on Netflix in the first week of its release for the first season. In the second week of its release, Netflix announced that
Dahmer was its ninth most popular English-language TV show of all time, with 56 million households having viewed all 10 episodes. In 60 days it became the third Netflix series to pass 1 billion views.
Dahmer debuted at number-one on the
Nielsen Top 10 streaming chart by garnering more than 3.6 billion minutes of viewing for the week of September 19–25, placing it 10th on the all-time list for single-week viewership. The following week, it jumped to No. 7 on the all-time list with 4.4 billion minutes viewed. The season topped Nielsen's streaming chart for the third consecutive week with 2.3 billion viewing minutes. Under Netflix's new streaming metrics, the second season debuted at the number-one spot on the platform globally, garnering 12.3 million views (or 97.5 million hours viewed) within just four days of its release. On its second week, it remained the most-watched series on Netflix after earning 19.5 million views (or 153.8 million hours viewed). It received 13.1 million views (or 103.6 million hours viewed) on its third week and 8.7 million views (or 68.6 million hours viewed) on its fourth week. On the
Nielsen Streaming Chart, it debuted as the top one streaming content (both for films and television series) with 1.72 billion minutes watched, and had a 40% rise on its second week with 2.4 billion minutes watched, the highest since
Bridgerton in June 2024. The third season debuted at number two on Netflix's global weekly chart, garnering 12.2 million views (or 90.6 million hours viewed) within three days of its release. It reached the number one spot globally in its second week, with 20.7 million views (154.2 million hours viewed), surpassing
The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story's second-week record of 19.5 million views. However,
The Ed Gein Story dropped to 9.5 million views (70.5 million hours viewed) in its third week, below
The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story's third-week figure of 13.1 million views. The series has received mixed critical reviews across its seasons. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported varying scores from critics and audiences. While some reviewers praised the performances and production design, others criticized aspects of the narrative structure and dramatization.
Critical response The
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 57% approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 30 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus says: "While
Monster is seemingly self-aware of the peril in glorifying Jeffrey Dahmer, creator
Ryan Murphy's salacious style nevertheless tilts this horror story into the realm of queasy exploitation."
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 46 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 45% approval rating, with an average rating of 5.0/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's consensus says: "Well-acted but off-puttingly sordid,
Monsters leaves viewers feeling guilty without enough pleasure to compensate." Metacritic assigned a score of 47 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Critics praised the performances (particularly those of
Cooper Koch and
Javier Bardem) and the
one-shot episode "
The Hurt Man", but criticized its inconsistent tone, runtime, and excessive sexual content, including homoerotic themes and the portrayal of an incestuous relationship between the brothers. The third season holds a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 critic reviews. Metacritic assigned a score of 28 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. The season was criticized for its subplots, runtime, graphic violence, and factual inaccuracies, as well as its
meta commentary on the cultural obsession with
true crime, which critics deemed to be "hypocritical".
Accolades Monster has won 15 awards out of its 77 award nominations. The anthology series has garnered 23
Primetime Emmy Award nominations (including
Creative Arts nominations), with
Niecy Nash of
The Jeffrey Dahmer Story winning for
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Peggy Tachdjian of
The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story winning for
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. It has received eight
Golden Globe Award nominations, with
Evan Peters winning for
Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his performance as
Jeffrey Dahmer. Peters has also won the
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film and the
Astra TV Award for Best Actor in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. At the
British Academy Television Awards, the first season won
Best International Programme.
Controversies On September 23, 2022, Netflix removed the first season's "
LGBTQ" tag after backlash on social media. The season also received backlash from the families of Dahmer's victims, accusing Netflix of profiting off their traumatic experiences and "retraumatizing [the families] all over again". Production assistant Kim Alsup alleged racial mistreatment while on set. However, a few months later, the brothers expressed gratitude for how it brought attention to their case and the childhood trauma they endured. Lyle Menendez stated that the series "opened a lot of people's eyes", and both brothers acknowledged that it helped shift public understanding of their story. Lyle also defined
Cooper Koch's performance as "pretty extraordinary". The second season also received backlash for its incestuous depiction of the Menendez brothers. Viewers have also accused it of sensationalizing the brothers' abuse and turning it into a "fictitious incestuous relationship." Trial expert and journalist Robert Rand, author of
The Menendez Murders, labeled the incest allegations as "fantasy" and pointed out that there was no credible evidence to support such claims. He explained that while some rumors circulated during the trial, they were baseless, and the series distorted the brothers' relationship for dramatic effect. On March 4, 2025, 15-year-old Reed R. Gelinskey was arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the death of his mother in
Caledonia, Wisconsin. Gelinskey stated that he developed the plan to kill his parents after watching the "shotgun scene" from the second season. The series generated public debate regarding the ethics of dramatizing real-life crimes. Some family members of victims expressed concerns about the portrayal of traumatic events and the use of creative liberties. Media outlets including Time covered discussions surrounding the broader cultural impact of true crime adaptations. == Notes ==