Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

Directed by Joe Berlinger. Starring Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Angela Sarafyan, Haley Joel Osment, Brian Geraghty, Jeffrey Donovan, Forba Shepherd, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney. [R]

Peculiar and surprisingly tame exploration of serial killer Ted Bundy embarks on a novel approach that attempts subjective viewpoints in addition to its courtroom procedural narrative. Resting somewhere between dramatic breakthrough and mere stunt casting, Efron is unsettling as Bundy largely because he doesn’t always seem unsettling, and one of the more dangerous tactics the film employs is dramatizing doubt over his guilt as seen through the eyes of shaken ex-girlfriend, Liz Kendall (Collins). By the very nature of true-crime story recreation, the film is exploitative toward the victims, even though director Berlinger keeps almost all shreds of voyeurism and violence offscreen; we don’t even see Bundy immediately before or after the murders, and there’s hardly any mention at all of the sordid aftermath details (decapitation, necrophilia, etc.). But what numbed, suppressed effect is the viewer supposed to take away from the film? If it was meant to encourage sympathy toward Kendall as her faith bleeds away until she’s finally struck by the horrifying realization that she had been sharing her life (and daughter) with a sociopath, more time should have been invested in her situation instead of focusing so often on Bundy’s headline-grabbing incidents in and out of the courtrooms. If it was meant to show how Bundy could manipulate women with creepy charms, why do we never get a sense of magnetism or even sinister charisma from him (no case is made explaining why old acquaintance, Carole Ann Boone (Scodelario), trusted and loved him so much that she was willing to marry him while on trial for multiple murders)? Ultimately, a mixed-bag curio that tells plenty but says very little with clarity or persuasion. Metallica’s James Hetfield makes a brief appearance as a police officer.

54/100