Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

He's young, charming, educated, handsome, and he also kills women sometimes. Ted Bundy was one of America's most terrifying serial killers, but what he was doing was long refused to be believed by those closest to him and much of the American public. And Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile shows that this is actually quite understandable... Zac Efron gives a very good performance and Joe Berlinger is quite clever at playing with the audience. Unfortunately, the film runs out of ideas somewhere in the middle and starts to become unnecessarily transparent and frankly a bit untrustworthy. Which is quite a pity. (05/23/2019)

You can tell Joe Berlinger’s documentary background really shines through. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is a solid drama about one of America’s notorious serial killers, though it leans heavily on factual accuracy over cinematic flair. The film feels more like a well-researched book brought to life than a suspenseful thriller. But even with that, Zac Efron is absolutely remarkable in the role. I was genuinely impressed with how he took on such a challenging character and nailed it. (12/14/2021)

Netflix really hit the mark here. I expected it to be a more average crime show, but Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was a full-blown surprise. Zac Efron has mostly played comedic roles throughout his career, so there were some reservations about his portrayal of Ted Bundy. But he delivered an absolutely phenomenal performance. I truly did not expect that. The acting in the film is top-notch; even Lily Collins, who played Bundy's wife, performed like her life depended on it. The film doesn't focus as much on depicting individual murders but instead offers a psychological spectacle, fully showcasing what a manipulator Bundy was (in hindsight, it's incredible how he managed to sway so many fans to his side). The courtroom scenes are quite convincingly done, and I was stunned by Bundy's audacity in court. Of course, it also has its chilling moments (the scene where he confesses to his wife gave me huge chills). Solid work on all fronts. For me, it's an 8/10. (12/11/2022)

Before watching it, I had no idea what Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was actually about. Maybe that's why I found it quite suspenseful. Zac Efron isn't one of my favorites, so it's a wonder he was able to keep my attention for the duration of the film. And not only that! He played the womanizing serial killer Ted Bundy so well that I believed in his innocence until the last moment. (70%) (12/03/2021)

A bold piece of filmmaking aimed at pissing off everyone who went to see a movie about Ted Bundy. A film made from his fabricated point of view as an intelligent, young, charismatic, and most importantly, innocent handsome man who, thanks to the aforementioned parameters, uses his persuasiveness to gather fans from the ranks of violence freaks, who in turn are pinned to him by the idea of a public trial filled with lurid descriptions of the details of Bundy's actions. Acts that we, on the other hand, see virtually nothing of and for the most part aren't even mentioned throughout the film. And implies that if we have a problem with that, we might as well get in line behind the wacky fans of this murderous celebrity. In fact, the film ultimately turns its full attention at the end to the tragic figure of Bundy's girlfriend, actually his biggest victim, who has lived for fifteen years wondering who she was really hanging out with because even Ted is unable to redeem her to the last moment with the truth. Whatever that is. Berlinger's film isn't very well made, it contains some downright idiotic scenes (the dogs successfully identifying the killer), and the casting agency party that led to this cast will take at least a week to recover from, but it's a respectable treatment of a certain uncomfortable thesis that boldly identifies the very specific hypocrisy that applies to almost every one of us who saw the film. And that concept is worthy of respect in our infantile pop culture zeitgeist. (08/23/2019)