I guess, when you sit down to watch a movie where Zac Efron plays one of America’s most prolific serial killers, Ted Bundy, you should check all expectations at the door.
But, as it turns out, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) is not about Ted Bundy. Well, it is, and it isn’t. It’s instead told from the perspective of Liz Kendall, Ted Bundy’s long term girlfriend/fiancé while Bundy’s murder trials go to court.
I thought, I’d see scenes of Zac Efron committing gruesome murders. But, what I got is so much better. The movie is more of a psychological drama as Liz tries to grabble with the fact that Ted might be a murder and the fact that she still loves him. And, casting Zac Efron as Ted Bundy is genius because he’s so damn charming that even I, as an audience member who knows Ted Bundy has killed over thirty people, start to wonder if he really is guilty.
I mean, he is guilty, Ted Bundy was a monster. But Zac Efron, and this movie, does a good job at making you wonder for about an hour and forty minutes. For that reason, if you enjoy serial killer stories, I suggest checking this movie out. It’s on Netflix.
