Film

Zac Efron Will Terrify You As Serial Killer Ted Bundy In New ‘Extremely Wicked’ Trailer

The Netflix true crime flick has finally secured a release date.

by Joseph Earp  3 April 2019
The new Extremely Wicked trailer sees Zac Efron turn on the charm as Ted Bundy

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

In our new true crime-obsessed age, there are few figures more compelling — not to mention revolting — than Ted Bundy.

Part of that, surely, comes down to the man’s charm, which he weaponised against his victims. Unlike John Wayne Gacy or Ed Gein, the notoriously arrogant Bundy deployed seduction as part of a modus operandi that saw him murder over thirty innocent people.

All of that makes the casting of Zac Efron in a new biopic about Bundy’s life, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile considerably inspired.

After all, Efron has spent his entire onscreen career perfecting the twin skills of charm and seduction — just look at his turn in Bad Neighbours for proof that the young actor can make even a noxious shithead deeply attractive — meaning he is the perfect performer to bring Bundy to the screen.

Extremely Wicked is told from the point of view of Bundy’s long-suffering girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily James). Structured like a love story that slowly turns distinctly sour, the film picks apart Kloepfer’s obsession for her husband, her blindness to his crimes, and the guilt that lingered with her for years. In a pivotal moment in the new trailer for the film, Kloepfer presses her husband on his role in the murders, only to have him lie straight to her face.

It also follows Bundy’s considerable and lengthy legal battles, not to mention his infamous jailbreak — plot details that will be familiar to any of those who binged Netflix true crime series The Ted Bundy Tapes. In fact, the director of Extremely Wicked, Joe Berlinger, also created The Ted Bundy Tapes, making him something of an expert on the serial killer.

Extremely Wicked was purchased by Netflix at the Sundance film festival, where it got mixed but mostly positive reviews. Now, the streaming giant has unveiled a release date for the film — it’ll hit us in a little less than a month, on May 3. Which gives you more than enough time to binge The Ted Bundy Tapes — again.