People! A 2019 goal of mine was to attend the Cleveland International Film Festival (small steps), and that goal was achieved! This past Saturday, a friend and I made are way up, scarfed down some Barrio, and then went to see the Ted Bundy biopic starring Disney Channel heartthrob, Zac Efron, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
Let me tell you what, last year when I heard that Zac Efron got cast as Bundy, I was immediately sold. I think he’s a solid rom-com actor, so I thought this was a good way to test his acting chops, and it also didn’t hurt that he very much resembled Bundy.
In watching the film, I felt like the two of them had a decent amount of similarities: easy on the eyes, extremely charming, and confident. I know the focus of this film was the fact that it was being told through the perspective of Bundy’s girlfriend, Liz (based on her memoir), but Efron was definitely the scene stealer! A lot of what Liz was doing was waiting for a call from Bundy trying to defend himself for what he was being charged with.
Lily Collins was very good as Liz, and you felt for her, but also were frustrated that she kept in contact with Bundy for as long as she did. The supporting cast was also robust and appropriately placed, but the standouts included Jim Parsons as the prosecutor, Larry Simpson, and John Malkovich as judge Edward Cowart.
All of the scenes in this film line up with cold accuracy in comparison to director Joe Berlinger’s popular Netflix documentary released a few months ago, Conversation with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which was the point. I was a little surprised at how non-graphic this film was, but the dialogue was written in a way to still give you chills.
After the viewing of the film, director Joe Berlinger was on hand for a Q&A! That was a pleasant surprise! He revealed that the script for this film had been on Hollywood’s black list for quite a while, but once he picked it up, it all came together in about six weeks, which is unheard of for an indie film. Another surprise for Joe was the casting of Zac Efron. Zac was looking for something drastically different from what he’d been filming, asked to read the script, and in two days told Joe he was in (even if it would be a “99 percent pay cut”). He also got his first choice in Lily Collins to play Liz, along with John Malkovich and Jim Parsons. Another surprise, but repeat casting went to lead vocalist of Metallica, James Hetfield as the cop who first pulled over Bundy.
Overall, this experience was really exciting! I’d say as a first-timer this left a lasting impression and I will definitely go back in future years. After watching the film, I’d like to watch Joe’s documentary to get a more complete picture of Ted Bundy and his crimes; I think it is so interesting that the same director did both versions. Lucky for you all, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is available on Netflix May 5th – so watch it!