use your time better watching the documentary by the same director; because if you haven't watched it or you don't know Bundy's story you'll get lost watching this movie
While the film has powerful performances, it does a whole ton of telling and no showing. The film plays like several vignettes mixed with Law and Order. The ending is powerful, but only because it is unlike the entire rest of the film.
Zac Efron is gives a great performance. The movie as a whole is fine, nothing really that special.
Zac played a good part, but there were plenty of things that just didn't happen in real life (Hacksaw scene being one glaring example).
not a bad movie but you might get a little lost if you haven’t read or watched about his murders beforehand. i know the movie’s supposed to be more focused on elizabeth’s perspective but i still can’t help but feel they romanticized and humanized ted, and i’m particularly not okay with that. good acting performances overall though.
Great movie, very engaging but as many of the reviewers on here have said, if you hadn't heard about the crimes beforehand, then you'll surely end up romanticizing the whole thing. I think the movie did a great job of showing the whole thing from Elizabeth's POV.
To be honest I enjoyed the Ted Tapes better as it went more into the psychology behind Buddy as opposed to just his arrogant peacocking. It was okay.
This movie glosses over a lot of Bundys history. Taken from the perspective of his girlfriend it doesn’t give justice to the horrific crimes committed.
If you've never heard of Ted Bundy and his crimes, you'll most likely be lost during this movie. It's more of a watered down version of what really happened and I don't understand why the director would choose that path if he really wanted to go for a docu of his life. Anyways, I was kept entertained for most of the time and been very surprised by Zac Efron's acting skills, as I only knew him from High School Musical and Bad Neighbours. Not the best films in the world to show someone's talent I suppose. He was great though, as well as Lilly Collins as Liz.
Meh. Seems more like a mediocre made-for-TV movie. Do yourself a favour and watch the Netflix Documentary series instead.
Narratively confusing at the beginning, with a reliance on a flashback structure. But stick with it, because all becomes clear, as does the evidence pointing to Bundy's guilt. A well made film, with a chillingly charming (strange choice of words I know, but true) performance from Efron.
Surprisingly good, im a big fan of serial killer movies but I wasn't really interested about a movie about Ted Bundy from Elizabeth's perspective but this movie kept me watching. Zac Efron is great and gives his best performance of his career hands down. Whole movie is kinda a flashback from the present and some things felt off from a tone perspective and I can't sit here and tell you that the movie isn't completely accurate because even tho I don't think it completely is, im not gonna spend forever trying to find the minor things that were changed. Still a decent watch as long as you don't expect anything great.
long story short - this movie isn't technically about ted bundy, so much as the woman in love with him before his crimes came to light. and as long as you know that, it's a great film with great acting. in particular, lily collins shows suffering that's impossible not to empathize with, and zac efron has that look in his eye that you've probably seen at least once or twice in your lifetime that leaves you feeling a little cold and naked.
things i think are important going into this movie:
• know about ted bundy's crimes and the overall timeline of his trials and incarceration
• remember that this is based on a memoir of the ex-girlfriend that the movie follows, not simply based on ted bundy's crimes
• know that the title is not a tagline for the plot but a specific part of a quote from the judge who convicted bundy in florida
if you go in knowing these things, the movie is enjoyable. if i went in with only a vague knowledge of the cases involved and the man himself, and didn't know about the actual circumstances of this film, i'd probably be confused and kind of annoyed.
if you're angry about this movie romanticizing ted bundy: it doesn't. if you watch the movie and feel like that, then you missed the entire point. he was an everyday guy next door and this movie is about the damage that knowing someone and caring about someone like ted bundy can do to a person who was truly innocent at the end of the day. it's not about ted bundy being a rockstar or unfairly targeted; the entire movie is about liz and the parts of ted bundy that ted bundy showed her. this glosses over the gory details of his case because of the perspective of the film, not because of any disrespect toward the people who suffered at the hands of ted bundy. if anything, this is the least exploitative piece of media to come out of the ted bundy case.
if you're interested in hearing it from the horses mouth himself: watch the ted bundy tapes. i personally got bored an hour in because i don't like listening to ted bundy or any other narcissist talk about themselves for a prolonged period of time, but it is certainly interesting in the way that the staircase and similar shows are.
if you're interested in the gory details of the crime: it's not here, at all. look for the true crime specials on ted bundy, and check out resources like podcasts and websites like murderpedia. you're not going to get your "gore fix" from a piece of mainstream media. like the hannibal tv series rarely showed lecter committing acts of violence, this movie does not show bundy's crimes save for a scene at the end which was shown in the trailer, anyway.
and that scene is honestly the greatest - not the flashback itself, but the visit between liz and ted before his execution.
The Good:
The Bad:
Verdict:
Zac Efron makes the performance of his career in a film that struggles to find its own identity and never reaches its full potential.
Amazing how Netflix was able to scrape together an all-star cast like this for a simple Netflix movie about Ted Bundy, but man is the casting good. As expected, this film follows almost the exact same plot line as the documentary, but obviously in movie form. The only issue is that because it is a movie, it made Ted Bundy seem too guilty and kind of seem like they forgot to turn him into a monster later on, as that was done till the very end of the movie. However, the way they did that was really creepy and entertaining. The way they showed the affects of Liz and Ted's relationship crumbling on both sides was a masterpiece to watch.
An interesting approach to the story, but the tone is poorly managed. Worth seeing for Efron's performance, though
The film is worth seeing for Zac Efron's performance if nothing else, but it's a strangely muted affair, neither ghoulish warts-and-all carnage nor restrained psychological treatise. Telling the story of Bundy from the perspective of a woman who was oblivious to his true nature is an undeniably interesting narrative choice, and had Berlinger stuck to this format, it could have made for a fascinating film. However, the longer it goes on, the more it seems to revel in Bundy's flamboyance, and what begins as an intriguing insider's look at living with a killer soon shifts into an underwhelming courtroom drama, only returning to its original tone in the final (entirely fictional) scene.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/KLdzh
If you came for the grit and gore, not here. If you are here for what a serial killer looks like if he was a smooth talking sociopath. Zac is so damn good and convincing.
Parsons, you are so screwed I just see Sheldon all the time.
Reality surpasses fiction again, incredible movie to watch, excellent performances
The film is fine. Moreover, I think that in order not to have the classic structure to tell a story (beginning, middle and end) it expresses its potential. But that's the problem. I don't know where they want to take me with the film. It's like there's no plot at all... You wait and wait for the climax, the high point of the story, and all you get is another "I didn't do it" from Ted. After all, that phrase is practically the entire script. You could say that The Simpsons predicted it: In one chapter Bart achieves ephemeral fame by saying "I didn't do it".
On the other hand, the film seems to want to cover the subgenre of judicial cinema, but without achieving it. It is a collection of true facts (more or less) linked by force without any connection between them. For example, when he asked to marry during the trial; even if it was real, he did not contribute anything in the middle of an undeveloped sequence. Moreover, it seems that the director is aware of this lack of connection between facts and that is why, at the end of the film, we are shown real recordings of Ted.
I know I'm repeating myself, but assuming that the story is not true in its entirety (it says so in the credits), a story could have been made that would have hooked us, since it seems more like a love story between a T-800 and a girl. The protagonist shows no emotion, he speaks without conviction. I don't mean that Zac is a bad actor, I don't know him well enough; what I mean is that being a real story that covers 15 years..., he has had to develop some feeling. He seemed more like the main character in Albert Camus' "The Foreigner".
For example, the film could have focused on the investigation and murders, instead of magically showing us the evidence during the trials. It could have explained what he did during his two escapes..., or done a more in-depth psychological analysis of Ted.
In short, wanting to go deeper into this film is like scuba diving in a puddle.
Too slow-paced to be entertaining. The bones were there but the editing choices were poor. Would not recommend or watch again.
[Netflix] It's hard to understand the charm of a psychopath like Ted Bundy. "What is this guy about?", Liz, his girlfriend, is asked. Unfortunately, neither the script based on the book written by Elizabeth Kendall nor Zac Efron's performing can give us an answer. It seems that the director is so hypnotized by the character that he doesn't even try to take the point of view of who really should be the protagonist.
true but unbelievable story about ted bundy the real serial killer..i love movies and storry's like this..
Zac Efron is shockingly good. Ted Bundy's story is very unique and disgustingly grotesque. Zac captures his essence and displays it on screen, they (Zac and Ted) have a similar good guy and clean cut charm. The supporting cast did a great job. Kaya and Lily are so good and Jim Parsons is always a pleasant surprise. Thankfully they rush through the killings and make this a courtroom/docudrama movie, if they had made it a homage type of film it would have left a bad taste in my mouth.
Movie was good in my opinion, honestly surprised by Zac Efron. You have to have some knowledge about who Bundy is and about the whole story, cause the movie didn't really tell much. It's focused on the point of view of the woman who fell in love for him, so it's understandable that the way he is put on the screen is more "soft", cause obviously from her prospective she was trusting him and was blinded by her love for him. I liked more the documentary that tells you more about the events, but didn't expect the movie to do the same, guess it wouldn't make any sense.
I am a bit angry at this movie. I expected them to show how horrifyingly disturbing the whole Ted Bundy story was. Instead, the whole thing was romanticized. If someone who has never heard of Ted Bundy watched this, they'd be sympathizing with him. I think they would be just like the girls who said they were in love with him during the trials. This revolting excuse of a human being is a serial killer and a necrophile, he raped and murdered numerous innocent young women, violated them in the vilest ways before and after their death, the only sentiment someone should feel for him is disgust and hatred. Sociopathic serial killers can be very skilled at blending in with normal people, they can be very charming, they can casually smile and laugh with you minutes after they washed their hands from the blood of a victim they'd just beheaded. This movie showed only the deceptively alluring demeanor of Bundy. It would've been much more fitting had they shown him committing at least one crime in one scene and then going back to blending in with normal people in the next. I would've also liked it if they gave the victims a little more value. It would've been better if they went more into each one's case, if they humanized them more and made us sympathize with them instead of that psychopath, but even with their sole focus on Bundy they didn't do a good job out of that. I think I'll be better off watching a documentary.
the movie should have named "i dated a serial killer" , it is more accurate to the plot of the movie.
Tried to like it but failed. The movie lacks something
I actually liked Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, but the storyline is a bit of a drag. I think it makes the mistake of focusing too much on his relationship with Liz Kendall (Lily Collins). The documentary series on Netflix is definitely worth a watch.
Knowing literally zero about Ted Bundy, I found this film extremely interesting. I managed to keep up with the plot and feel like I learned a lot about him. Zac Efron played a great part, it was a very different role for him, and he did a superb job.
If you don't know anything about Ted's crimes, a bit about the tineline, I don't really recommend watching it before you do learn more about it. I know that I wouldn't enjoy this as much if I didn't know more about what happened
didn't expect much because of the average reviews, but i was surprised with a great movie.
Shout by CinemanicBonkersBlockedParent2019-05-05T19:15:14Z
A different acting role for Zac Efron and did a good job at the role and does a little look like the real man. I thought the film was alright, nothing brilliant thought and not 100% sure it was fully accurate to the real events.