Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Extremely interesting, shockingly good acting and actually not that violent.


The Synopsis
When Ted Bundy is pulled over by the police one night as he drives back to Seattle, it sparks off a chain reaction that has him accused of the murder of numerous young women across multiple states.

As an intelligent and charismatic man and law student, Ted ends up heading his own defence. Maintaining that he is innocent throughout his entire Florida trial, Ted is positive that the jury of his peers will decide in his favour.

The Good
Zac Efron was pretty damn convincing as Ted Bundy. The similarities in their facial features made watching the movie that much more eerie. He also did a great job in schooling his features whilst being accused, and remaining charming to the point where I was actually questioning whether or not he did it!

*Spoiler Alert* – He did it. Of course, he did it. We all know he did it because it’s based on a true story. However, what I liked about the movie is that we weren’t sure if Zac Efron’s Ted Bundy actually committed the crimes for which he was accused.

The movie never showed Ted as a murderer – all the evidence we had to work with makes everything look circumstantial at best. The movie removed the ‘killers’ viewpoint from us because that wasn’t how Ted ever saw himself while he maintained that he was innocent… until he didn’t.

I liked that they inserted actual clips of Ted Bundy during his trial during the credits – it gave us a chance to match fiction with fact – and again highlighted just how good of a job Zac Efron did.

Not necessarily a point to be praised but there was a very interesting cast line up for this movie: John Malkovich, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, Jim Parsons, James Hetfield.

The Bad
In all honesty, there was nothing terribly wrong with this movie.

Though I’m glad they stayed away from the more gruesome aspects because it gave the movie a different feel – it also meant it was just a little bit boring every now and then. It seemed like only two things happened – he wasn’t on trial, and then he was on trial.

The fillers such as Elizabeth Kendall’s (Lily Collins) drinking and guilt didn’t weight down enough of the movie to hold clout or audience investment.

Yes, the movie was all about Ted but a little more depth in other characters such as his ex-girlfriend Elizabeth, or even his wife Carole Ann Boone (Kaya Scodelario) could have given a little more substance to the movie.

The Conclusion
A decent watch whether or not you know a lot about Ted Bundy. An interesting viewpoint from a storytelling perspective, and some great acting from Efron. Not much more too it than that.