Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
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A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
What critics thought
Critics landed in roughly the same place: Zac Efron's performance is the film's one undeniable asset, but nearly everything around it falls short. The bigger dispute was over whether the girlfriend-POV framing was a worthwhile structural choice or simply abandoned — and whether the film tips from humanizing Bundy into quietly glorifying him.
“Extremely Wicked doesn't rub our noses in the horror of Ted Bundy. It shows us just enough, keeping the horror where it belongs, in the recesses of our imagination, where it remains what it should be: dark as midnight, and altogether too much to fathom.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
“pedestrian and graceless drama”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“The narrative feature from veteran documentarian Joe Berlinger seems as though it's setting out to be the story of serial killer Ted Bundy told through the eyes of his girlfriend ... But Berlinger's film gets sucked into the gravity of sensational events that are already a matter of public record, and spends so much time meticulously recreating them that the perspective is diluted.”
Emily Yoshida·Vulture
Genres
Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Joe BerlingerDirector
Zac EfronTed Bundy
Lily CollinsLiz Kendall
Kaya ScodelarioCarole Anne Boone
Jeffrey DonovanUtah Defense Attorney John O'Connell
Angela SarafyanJoanna
Dylan BakerUtah Prosecutor David Yocom
Brian GeraghtyFlorida Public Defender Dan Dowd
Terry KinneyDetective Mike Fisher
Haley Joel OsmentLiz's Co-Worker Jerry
James HetfieldOfficer Bob Hayward
Grace Victoria CoxCarol Daronch
Jim ParsonsFlorida Prosecutor Larry Simpson
Dennis SmithComposer
Marco BeltramiComposer
Brandon TrostCinematographyExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
What critics thought
Critics landed in roughly the same place: Zac Efron's performance is the film's one undeniable asset, but nearly everything around it falls short. The bigger dispute was over whether the girlfriend-POV framing was a worthwhile structural choice or simply abandoned — and whether the film tips from humanizing Bundy into quietly glorifying him.
“Extremely Wicked doesn't rub our noses in the horror of Ted Bundy. It shows us just enough, keeping the horror where it belongs, in the recesses of our imagination, where it remains what it should be: dark as midnight, and altogether too much to fathom.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
“pedestrian and graceless drama”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“The narrative feature from veteran documentarian Joe Berlinger seems as though it's setting out to be the story of serial killer Ted Bundy told through the eyes of his girlfriend ... But Berlinger's film gets sucked into the gravity of sensational events that are already a matter of public record, and spends so much time meticulously recreating them that the perspective is diluted.”
Emily Yoshida·Vulture
Genres
Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Joe BerlingerDirectorZac EfronTed BundyLily CollinsLiz KendallKaya ScodelarioCarole Anne BooneJeffrey DonovanUtah Defense Attorney John O'ConnellAngela SarafyanJoannaDylan BakerUtah Prosecutor David YocomBrian GeraghtyFlorida Public Defender Dan DowdTerry KinneyDetective Mike FisherHaley Joel OsmentLiz's Co-Worker JerryJames HetfieldOfficer Bob HaywardGrace Victoria CoxCarol DaronchJim ParsonsFlorida Prosecutor Larry SimpsonDennis SmithComposerMarco BeltramiComposerBrandon TrostCinematographyStream