'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile' Clip: Ted Bundy Claims He's Been Framed

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was one of the buzziest titles to come out of the Sundance Film Festival, due to its sordid subject matter and what's been dubbed a "career-best performance" by star Zac Efron. But this Ted Bundy biopic will take a while before it hits U.S. theaters, making its way to the U.K. first.

Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile Clip

After Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile's debut at Sundance, where it received mixed to positive reviews, Netflix picked up the rights for U.S. distribution, though Sky Cinema got the one up on it in the U.K. Hence the Sky logo slapped prominently in the corner of this clip (via Deadline), which shows Ted Bundy (Efron) convincing his concerned girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins) that he has been framed for a murder in Ohio for which he was picked out of a police line-up. Efron's smarmy charm and gently persuasive manner is on full display here — a performance which he received raves for, including from /Film's own Chris Evangelista, who wrote in his Sundance review:

"Bundy is played by Zac Efron, and while the actor is a little too good-looking to be playing the character, he nails down the part in an absolutely eerie way. It's a transformative performance – Efron takes on Bundy's mannerisms perfectly, to the point where it no longer feels like we're watching Efron – we're watching Bundy resurrected from the grave. Efron has been doing good work in so-so films for a while now, but here, he gives the best performance of his career. He's matched at every turn by Lily Collins, who plays Elizabeth Kloepfer. Collins has the less showy role – after all, Ted is walking, talking charisma – but she brings a remarkable amount of inner turmoil to the part. We can feel her anguish as she struggles to deal with the many, many accusations against Ted."

Directed by Joe Berlinger and written by Michael Werwie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile chronicles "the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years." It also stars Kaya Scodelario and John Malkovich.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile hits U.K. theaters and Sky network on May 3, 2019. Netflix has not announced a release date yet.