#ExtremelyWickedShockinglyEvilAndFile

[doomonfilm]

Review : Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile (2019)

Sometime earlier this year, Netflix, and by extension most of the internet community, went Ted Bundy crazy.  First came the documentary.  Then came the memes.  Little did we know what Netflix had up their sleeves next (although, in hindsight, it should have been obvious, knowing how they pump out original content).  As summertime rolled in, Netflix rolled out Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. 

Liz Kendall (Lily Collins), on a night out with her friend Joanna (Angela Sarafyan) in Seattle, meets a handsome young man by the name of Ted Bundy (Zac Efron).  The two hit it off immediately, and Ted begins to spend much of his time with Liz and her daughter while their attraction blossoms into romance.  Ted, however, spends quite a bit of time away from home in his studies to become a lawyer.  After a couple of years together, things start to take a turn for the worse in the most unimaginable way possible : a handful of disappearances in the Washington and Oregon area are attributed to a man that fits the description of Ted Bundy.  After being apprehended, Bundy faces trial, and his relationship with Liz rapidly deteriorates before ultimately falling apart all together.  Meanwhile, the accusations continue to roll in, and Bundy’s attempts to evade the law eventually land him in trouble in Colorado, then Florida.  While in captivity and facing trial in Florida, Bundy is aided by longtime friend Carol Ann Boone (Kaya Scodelario), who hopes to voice his innocence to the public, but as the trials proceed, the truth about Bundy begins to emerge. 

The mechanism of using a romance gone bad to tell the tale of Ted Bundy is both unique and incredibly effective.  With Bundy historically considered one of the more attractive serial killers (next to Richard Ramirez), having the tale unfold as discovery of the true horror that is the man you love plays perfectly.  The way that he used his charm and education in an attempt to beat the system is perfect fodder for drama, and Netflix certainly jumped on that opportunity after it’s successful Bundy documentary.

The choice to not focus on the sensational aspects of the case works incredibly well also.  It is not until the final fourth or so of the film that the true horror of Bundy’s crimes is revealed, and after being shown the tug of war between charm and creepiness that Efron provides (seemingly effortlessly), those actions hit like a ton of bricks.  As a viewer, we find ourselves nearly in the same position as Liz, only to have her trump us with the revelation that her phone call to police put Bundy on their radar.  The emotional journeys of all involved inter-tangle and run opposite one another like orchestrated chaos, with the weight and stress of it all clearly showing on the main three characters as the film progresses.

The production of this film is surprisingly solid.  Visually, the look of an old film stock is used, which not only allows us to suspend disbelief and place the events in the proper span of time, but it makes the transition to the archival footage shown during the credits play much stronger, as the lines between reality and fiction have been blurred.  The film is full of powerful open-framed face shots and slow, dramatic push ins that ratchet up the tension to maximum levels.  Pace-wise, the film moves along surprisingly well for what is essentially 90% exposition and 10% action.

Despite what some would consider typecasting in his past, Zac Efron really steps up to the plate for the role of Bundy, turning the charm all the way up, and placing the brooding creepiness about a half-step below that.  Lily Collins plays the sweet, down home girl to perfection, so much so that often times we find ourselves expecting her to become a victim, rather than the strong individual we find at the film’s conclusion.  Kaya Scodelario, despite quite a bit of screen time, is only given minimal to do, as she mostly rocks her costume like she was born to play the role, although when she does get a chance to shine, she makes it easy to sympathize with her situation.  Angela Sarafyan brings the best friend energy to the fullest, and brief appearances by Haley Joel Osment and James Hetfield stand out.  A number of solid cameos happen in the courtroom scenes, including appearances by Jeffrey Donovan, Dylan Baker and Jim Parsons as attorneys, plus Alan B. Jones and John Malkovich as judges.

For all that Netflix does in terms of their original content, it’s nice to see that they are able to pull the level of talent that shows up in the films.  It gives younger and unknown filmmakers hope that, with the right opportunity, you can make major strides towards getting work out there and being recognized.  I can’t lie either... there are a handful of other documentaries I wouldn’t mind seeing turned into proper films within the realms of the Netflix catalog.