Lately there has been an avalanche of movies and series about crimes and ruthless serial killers, where most highlight the facts perpetrated by these people, or rather where the focus of the story focuses on highlighting the crimes and atrocities performed by those criminals. However in this film the main focus of the story is the life of the criminal outside of his crimes.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; will tell us the personal story of one of the most atrocious murderers in the history of the United States, from a more "human" point, considering as the main points of the plot his relationship with who was basically the great love of this atrocious murderer.
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Going deeper into story.
Ted Bundy is one of the best-known serial killers in history for his infamous and brutal crimes against a lot of innocent women and young girls. But in this movie they don't focus directly on Ted Bundy the serial killer but rather on the man behind all that atrocity. This is a film that masks the real Ted Bundy with the feelings of his great love, a young woman who portrays him as a good man despite everything. A young woman who knows and has a relationship with a charismatic and empathic man with a high capacity for love; basically a man who cares for her and her daughter, being there at all times and taking care of both women.
But make no mistake this is not the story of a utopic Ted Bundy but rather an inside story of a man who tricked a young woman in the same way he tricked and took advantage of hundreds of women and victims.
The plot focuses on a Ted Bundy who knows a woman with whom he fell in love and with whom he formed a family, but from whom he secretly hides his true self, his psychopathic and killer side. But whose lies begin to collapse when accusations against him for the murder of different women arise, accusations that lead him to a recurrent catch me if you can, where we see him several times being caught and several times escaping from different prisons until his luck ends and finally he is caught in Florida by the massacre of a group of women.
The impressive thing about the movie is the way we see Ted Bundy's personal journey beyond his crimes, and especially the way in which this charismatic killer manages to dodge the laws for so long, generating sympathy and winning an audience that even though knowing he is a psychopath continues to support him. The plot and script successfully succeed in showing another perspective of a serial killer so brutal and bloody.
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Digging into the characters.
Surprisingly in this movie we don't have so many outstanding characters, however there are characters that stand out a lot, something like quality and not quantity. Each character brings a small piece to the life puzzle of a serial killer who masks himself under the veil of a normal man, but with a tremendous charisma.
Undoubtedly the most prominent performance of the entire film is Ted Bundy, masterfully characterized by Zac Efron, who literally mimics in the killer transmitting all the gestures, all the charisma and mystery of a man who fooled hundreds of women for years. We never see the worst version of Ted Bundy but Zac Efron fantastically manages to transmit in some scenes that sadism so marked in the psychopathic killer.
On the other hand Lily Collins triumphs as the great love of Ted, Liz Kendall a woman who fell madly in love with a man who broke her psychologically with so many lies, a woman who even loving him was who gave the initial kick for the capture of the murderer. The actress does an emotionally brilliant job, where she gets us to feel sorry for her. That scene where she finally manages to get Ted to confess his crimes is masterful.
Kaya Scodelario also gives a very good interpretation of a woman whose obsession with Ted made him turn her into his personal puppet, serving all his whims. The actress does a very good job of showing submission and displaying all the love and obsession she feels for Ted. Another who does it great is Jim Parsons (Yes, our beloved Sheldon Cooper), as the prosecutor in charge of taking Ted down for his crimes, showing strength and rectitude to avoid being pressured by Ted Bundy's tricks.
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Final thoughts.
This is a very well constructed movie, where we see a different Ted Bundy, a killer who hides his true nature but who even in normal moments manages to transmit some suspiciousness. An extremely enjoyable movie that will keep us alert to any possible trick Ted wants to use to get away with it and deceive everyone.
As I said this is the inside of a psychopath's mind like no other, a corrupt man who always remained firm about what he said without caring about the pain of the victims.