Theodore Robert Bundy. Commonly known as Ted Bundy. Was he really this psychopathic killer and pathological liar? “What if, just what if, he really was innocent?” That was how I felt throughout the movie till- (no spoilers!) While we all know that Ted Bundy was an infamous, ruthless killer, the movie made me doubt what I had already known about these cases. I even speculated and convinced myself- what if they made an adaptation? What if he dies an innocent man? What if the real killer was still out there?

The casting was also amazing- Zac Efron played Ted Bundy perfectly. As my first childhood crush- his charisma brought about how Bundy managed to, unfortunately schemingly, entrance everyone, especially the women he killed and the women who believed in him. While I was not particularly interested in Ted Bundy’s case, the movie definitely piqued my interest and raised many questions a 150 minutes film could not cover. After the movie, I spent my ride home researching and understanding the real story more- which helped me appreciate how the movie was brought across. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile centred more on the trials and how Bundy managed to charm and his way into making people love and believe him. He successfully made both characters in the movie, and the audience in the theatre believe his innocence. Though the film was dramatized, and some characters or facts in the movie were not true/ did not happen, there were many pinnacle points that were factually accurate and even snippets that were quoted to a T.

The dramatization gave a whole new perspective and allowed someone who does not know the context of the movie to follow the flow of the movie easily.To me, Bundy was portrayed in a way where what I felt was how his girlfriend-turned fiancé felt. I sympathized with her. I even sympathized with Ted Bundy. For most parts of the film, I felt for him and a small part of me was rooting for his freedom, pleading not guilty, believing his innocence. Conveying how those who believed him felt, I could feel my heart sink when the verdict was passed. The turning point of the film, personally, was when Liz, his ex-fiancé confronted Bundy regarding the murders, and the vile truth was uncovered. We saw it with our own eyes, what he was capable of. And it shows how he truly was, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.The cinematic take on Ted Bundy’s crimes and courts scenes gives Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile an amazing ⅘.

Written by: Adalia Goh