The True Crime genre of movies have been very popular recently with reenactments of the lives of famous serials killers in their prime years being created for viewers interested in learning more about these twisted stories. The movies make you disturbed and uncomfortable, but a new Ted Bundy movie is a bit different.

“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” directed by Joe Berlinger is the story of Ted Bundy when he was being convicted for a string of murders  of young women across America in the 70s. Zac Efron plays the affable Bundy alongside Lily Collins as Bundys’ longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth “Liz” Kloepfer.

This movie is captivating from beginning to end. It starts with the first time Liz and Ted meet. The story basically follows their relationship, which was an interesting take on Ted’s life. It shows him as a sweet, caring man who Liz falls head over heels for. As the story progresses, there are headlines everywhere that show Ted might be the unknown killer of all these women. Liz doesn’t want to believe it, and as an audience member, you almost don’t want to believe it either.

As the evidence starts racking up, you can see how distraught Liz becomes and watch her mental state deteriorate. I thought they did a fantastic job at showing how Liz goes from being a carefree woman to a completely worn down alcoholic. Ted keeps begging her to believe him but she doesn’t even want to talk to him. It was interesting to watch the change.

The main reason I thought this movie was incredible is that they didn’t technically give any evidence to the audience that he committed these gruesome crimes. If you didn’t know Ted Bundy’s story, you might actually believe he is innocent. They showed it how people in the media at that time viewed it, not knowing if it was true or not, and made you feel how Liz was feeling. It was a perfect way to portray the story. Efron and Collins delivered their roles flawlessly. At the end during the credits, they show actual footage of Bundy which made me really appreciate Efron as an actor; he took the role and ran with it.

This movie is one of my favorite True Crime movies I’ve seen so far. It had me hooked for the whole hour and forty-nine minutes. If you’re looking for an “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” time, you can check this movie out on Netflix!