ted bundy hulu movie review

Screen Rant

Every ted bundy movie ranked worst to best (including no man of god).

Hollywood's strange obsession with serial killer Ted Bundy continues with No Man Of God, but which is the best movie about the notorious criminal?

• Ted Bundy movies tap into the morbid fascination with real-life monsters and the macabre, making them compelling for audiences.
• Some Ted Bundy movies inaccurately exploit the story for entertainment value, while others attempt to provide insight into his mindset and crimes.
• The popularity of Ted Bundy movies can be attributed to his attractive appearance, which belied the heinous nature of his acts, and the disturbing horror movie-like elements of his crimes that pique curiosity.

Serial killers are a recurrent topic in movies and TV shows, and the most notorious understandably inspire the healthiest box-office returns and streaming numbers, so it’s no shock there have been many Ted Bundy movies. The world has unfortunately seen too many serial killers through the years, with different modus operandi and targets, but some have turned out to be too fascinating to the audience and the entertainment industry, making them part of pop culture (though a very obscure part of it). The idea of centering a movie around a serial killer like Ted Bundy is to try to understand the mindset.

Genres from true crime to thrillers to horror all rely on the morbid yet natural human fascination with the macabre, and serial killers are the closest thing to real-life monsters that exist. Theodore Robert Cowell, the birth name of "The Campus Killer" himself and best known to the world as Ted Bundy, captured the darkest parts of audiences' imaginations even before he was eventually identified and apprehended. This resulted in many Ted Bundy movies, some of which were inaccurate exploitative stories while others examined this man of infamy in some interesting ways. From the worst to the best, fans can explore every Ted Bundy movie.

Related: What Happened To Ted Bundy’s Ex-Wife & Daughter

25 Best Serial Killer TV Shows On Netflix, Ranked

10 bundy and the green river killer (2019), the movie has bundy consulting on another case.

• Available to stream on Vudu and Tubi

One of the modern Ted Bundy movies released is actually not about Bundy's days as a serial killer, but about him consulting on another case. In reality, Ted Bundy was interviewed about the Green River Serial Killer when there were no leads in the case, which is actually a practice law enforcement will take, especially when convicted serial killers might be serving multiple life sentences in prison. That's the story Bundy And The Green River Killer tells. The movie received mixed reviews, having only a 3.4 out of 10 stars on IMDB and a 6% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but a 3.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon's Prime Video.

9 Bundy: An American Icon (2008)

A not reliable biopic.

• Available to stream on Roku and Tubi

Bundy: An American Icon (also known as Bundy: A Legacy of Evil ) is a horror movie directed by Michael Feifer that purports to be a biopic of "The Lady Killer" Theodore Cowell. Unfortunately for anyone looking for a fact-based affair, it follows Feifer's other serial killer movies (including movies about Ed Gein , BTK and the Boston Strangler) by caring little for the truth. It dramatizes Bundy’s life from his troubled childhood to his arrest and trial and feels like little more than exploitation of a "brand." Cowell/Bundy was played by Corin Nemec, and the movie wasn't well-received by critics, who thought it didn’t offer anything new, and it’s an often forgotten entry in the collection of movies about Ted Bundy.

8 American Boogeyman (2021)

Through the eyes of the fbi.

• Stream on Hulu

Like the rest of the movies based on Ted Bundy American Boogeyman follows his crimes but through the perspective of the FBI agents assigned to the case

The first of two 2021 properties, Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman is written and directed by Daniel Farrands ( The Haunting of Sharon Tate ) and stars Chad Michael Murray as the title character. Like the rest of the movies based on Ted Bundy , American Boogeyman follows his crimes but through the perspective of the FBI agents assigned to the case: Kathleen McChesney (Holland Roden) and Robert Ressler (Jake Hays). I t never quite manages to justify its own existence, offering nothing new to the conversation and also fictionalizing events to the point that it feels grossly unfair. Murray was considered miscast as Bundy.

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

7 ted bundy (2002), critics thought it to be exploitative.

• Stream on Tubi and Roku

Ted Bundy was directed and co-written by Matthew Bright. The story picks up in 1974 when Bundy was a law student and began his murder sprees. The infamous killer was played by Michael Reilly Burke ( Mars Attacks! ), whose performance was pointed out as the best thing in the movie , though it was affected by the story and tone of the movie, which critics labeled as “exploitative.” That assessment is thoroughly justified: the Ted Bundy 2002 movie's commitment to bothering with the truth, again, is questionable at best, suggesting that lots of these movies have more stock in the idea of Bundy over the truth of the matter.

The 15 Most Interesting Serial Killers On Mindhunter (& 5 They Should Have Had On The Show)

6 the capture of the green river killer (2008), the tv movie doesn't really justify the effort.

• Stream on Tubi

The Capture of the Green River Killer is a two-part TV movie that focuses on the story of the Green River killer serial murders between 1982 and 1998. Just like in The Riverman , Bundy comes into play when he offers his help to the detectives working on the case. Bundy's real-life involvement in the case also helped to inspire The Silence of the Lambs as serial killer Hannibal Lecter helps FBI agent Clarice Starling. This version of Bundy is played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer 's James Marsters . It's a hard one to get hold of, but it doesn't really justify the effort. The cast is better than the material – with Tom Cavanagh in the lead role – but the screenplay was seen as the biggest problem with the film.

How Netflix's Ted Bundy Documentary & Movie Are Different (& Which Is Better)

5 the riverman (2004), another movie about bundy and the green river killer.

The Riverman was a Ted Bundy TV movie directed by Bill Eagles ( Beautiful Creatures ) and based on the book The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer by Robert D. Keppel and William J. Birnes. It follows criminology professor Robert D. Keppel who is offered help by Bundy to profile a serial killer, later dubbed “The Riverman”. Although Bundy wasn’t of much help, he did shed some light on his own pathology. Bundy was played by Cary Elwes, known for his roles in The Princess Bride , Saw (also inspired by a true story) , and Stranger Things . This one's a little like a prototype for 2021's far superior No Man Of God , in that it follows the profiler rather than Bundy and allows the audience to see Bundy and his crimes through his eyes. There's also an element of Keppel being dragged in a little too much, which promises more interest than it delivers.

4 The Stranger Beside Me (2003)

A co-worker tell all.

The Stranger Beside Me is a made-for-TV movie based on the book of the same name by Ann Rule, who worked with Bundy before his murders and even considered him her friend. In this version, Bundy was played by Billy Campbell, and Barbara Hershey played Rule. Buoyed by two great central performances, it's a strong addition and easily one of the best made-for-TV true crime efforts of the Bundy catalog. It also makes the choice to stay away from Bundy's crimes consciously and gives Ann Rule a rare female voice in this otherwise male perspective-dominated space.

3 The Deliberate Stranger (1986)

A made for tv movie praised for being accurate.

• No streaming options available

The Deliberate Stranger is a TV movie based on the book Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger by reporter Richard W. Larsen, published in 1980. The movie skips Bundy’s childhood and first murders and begins with the murder of Georgann Hawkins, later following Bundy's crimes in Washington, Utah, Colorado, and Florida. Bundy was played by Mark Harmon, best known for playing SSA Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS , and Bundy's lawyer Polly Nelson called the movie "stunningly accurate" and praised Harmon's performance. As it was initially a two-part miniseries, it clocks in at over three hours, but it never outstays its welcome and Harmon is very good as the charming law student with a terrible secret.

2 Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile (2019)

Zac efron in a different kind of role.

• Stream on Netflix

There's a little too much appreciation for the cult of Bundy without a great deal of showing him for what he really was.

Zac Efron plays Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. The movie is a crime drama directed by Joe Berlinger, and based on the book The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy by Elizabeth Kendall, Bundy’s former girlfriend. The title of the movie is a reference to judge Edward Cowart’s (played by John Malkovich) remarks on Bundy’s crimes while sentencing him to death.

Extremely Wicked True Story: What The Ted Bundy Movie Changes (& Cuts)

The story begins in 1969, when Bundy and Elizabeth met, and is told through her perspective, covering his journey all the way to his imprisonment. Somewhat rightly accused of exploitation of the material - and the victims, without a thought to giving them a voice - there's a little too much appreciation for the cult of Bundy without a great deal of showing him for what he really was.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

*Availability in US

Not available

1 No Man Of God (2021)

Considered to be the best movie on the subject.

• Stream on AMC+

The most recent Ted Bundy movie highlights a chilling performance from Luke Kirby as No Man of God 's Bundy . It's directed by Amber Sealey and written by C. Robert Cargill ( Sinister , Doctor Strange ). The movie is based on real-life transcripts selected from the conversations between Bundy and FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier (played by Elijah Wood) that happened between 1984 and 1989.

Also starring are Robert Patrick and Aleksa Palladino in supporting roles, but this is very much a two-man affair, with narrative presence for other perspectives more than real characters. It's intriguing without being exploitative and offers a genuinely clever comment on both Bundy's dark "appeal" and the irresponsible way that has been monetized without considering a space for female or specifically victimized voices in telling the tale. Both Kirby and Wood are great, and it's easily the best of the bunch.

No Man Of God

Ted bundy is one of the most prolific serial killers in history, a real life horror story.

Few serial killers have inspired more movies , TV shows, documentaries, books, or other media than Ted Bundy, whose crimes took place in the US in the 1970s (and quite possibly earlier). Catching Theodore Cowell wasn’t easy, as he denied all his crimes for decades and escaped from the authorities a couple of times, traveling to other states to continue his murder spree. He also gave his victims a variety of aliases, including Kenneth Misner and Chris Hagen, so those who escaped gave the Police incorrect information.

Why Hollywood Is Obsessed With Ted Bundy Movies

Bundy was jailed in Utah in 1975 for aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault, which unchained a series of suspicions for more serious crimes. The "Love Bite Serial Killer," as some media outlets also referred to him, was recaptured in 1979, and he was already America’s most famous serial killer by that point. That same year he was sentenced to death for his crimes, though it's believed that not all his victims have been found, and he didn’t confess to all the murders he committed.

Just days before his execution, Bundy confessed to 30 murders during a series of interviews with Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, which were the basis for Netflix's Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes docuseries as well as Elijah Wood's No Man Of God . Bundy died in the electric chair in January 1989, and his story has since been adapted to multiple types of media. The strange fascination over his case hasn’t ceased.

Why There Are So Many Ted Bundy Movies

A horrific but fascinating case.

Serial killers have inspired fiction since the days of Jack the Ripper , but there is a handful over whom Hollywood and audiences obsess disproportionately, and Bundy is among them despite not being the most prolific killer in US history – Bundy is the third most active, with 25 confirmed murders and many more suspected but not proven. Yet there are far more movies about him than Samuel Little, who is still alive today and has confessed to the murder of over 93 women, or Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer who killed 49 people.

The Ted Bundy obsession Hollywood has can be explained. Like John Wayne Gacy and Ed Gein, Bundy's crimes had a disturbing horror movie-like element that went beyond simple murder. John Wayne Gacy was the killer clown who inspired IT , and Ed Gein made his victims into furniture and clothing – both disturbing details that nonetheless pique curiosity. As well as killing possibly as many as 100+ women (the true number will sadly never be found), Bundy was a rapist and necrophile. His crimes were truly disgusting, and as much as their depravity makes them harrowing to consider, it makes them equally compelling fodder for filmmakers wanting to create a monster movie about one from real life.

The other reason Bundy is notably popular in movies is that he had, for lack of a better term, the Dracula factor. Theodore Robert Bundy was, by all accounts, an incredibly attractive man, which made it easy for him to lure his female victims. He'd sometimes also pretend to have an impairment to more easily gain their trust, something else that inspired The Silence of the Lambs as Buffalo Bill uses a similar poly. It shows Bundy was a master manipulator, coming across as suave and sophisticated.

His personality was a huge juxtaposition to the utterly inhuman ferocity of his acts, which is in part why it took so long to pin him to the murders, and this Jekyll-and-Hyde dissonance further breeds easily exploitable audience curiosity. He is partly responsible for the rejection of the old idea of serial killers as ugly societal rejects. As unjust as it is, Ted Bundy has become a celebrity serial killer, and there will likely be many more movies made about him.

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)

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Ted bundy: american boogeyman, common sense media reviewers.

Violence, gore, language in serial killer crime drama.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

No positive messages in movie about serial killer

Kathleen McChesney is a Seattle homicide detective

Kathleen McChesney is a highly competent, dedicate

True crime thriller/horror movie violence througho

The house mother of a sorority who is renting out

Profanity throughout. "F--k" often used. Also: "a-

Orange Julius mentioned by name. Woman carries a W

Marijuana smoking. Cigarette smoking. Beer drinkin

Parents need to know that Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman is a 2021 true crime horror-thriller about the years-long pursuit and capture of the serial killer. Some of the real-life killings are filmed in the style of horror movies, with jump scares and suspenseful music. Young women are shown being lured by…

Positive Messages

No positive messages in movie about serial killer Ted Bundy.

Positive Role Models

Kathleen McChesney is a Seattle homicide detective starting her career in the 1970s, a time when it was rare for women to be in law enforcement. Against culture of sexism, she emerges as someone adept at finding patterns in the grisly murders committed by Bundy, and her work and tenacity eventually land her a job at the FBI and result in her ascending the ranks, often as the first woman to attain high-ranking positions at the FBI.

Diverse Representations

Kathleen McChesney is a highly competent, dedicated law enforcement officer during a time when it was believed at the FBI and elsewhere that only men could do that kind of work. Psychiatrist who interviews Bundy in prison is an African American man.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

True crime thriller/horror movie violence throughout. Young women shown being attacked by Bundy. Women in their beds are bludgeoned with a blunt object. A woman is shown being abducted, handcuffed inside of a car, where it's later revealed that she was raped and murdered. Decapitated heads. Gory remains of a corpse in a morgue. Bundy keeps violent pornographic magazines in his bedroom: images of women tied up and beaten. During a fantasy sequence, Bundy imagines himself tied up in bed while women beat him, as quick close-up shots of his face show him seemingly in the act of masturbation. Women who survived Bundy's final attacks before his arrest are shown beaten and bloodied. Horror movie-style jump scares throughout.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The house mother of a sorority who is renting out a room to Bundy makes a rhyming sexual joke concerning how she graduated in the "Class of '69."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Profanity throughout. "F--k" often used. Also: "a--hole," "s--t," "goddamn," "damn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Orange Julius mentioned by name. Woman carries a Waldenbooks bag while standing outside of a mall.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Marijuana smoking. Cigarette smoking. Beer drinking in a bar. Tequila drinking in a house.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman is a 2021 true crime horror-thriller about the years-long pursuit and capture of the serial killer. Some of the real-life killings are filmed in the style of horror movies, with jump scares and suspenseful music. Young women are shown being lured by Bundy, handcuffed in his car while screaming. Women are shown being attacked while in their beds, bludgeoned with a blunt object, faces bloodied as they scream. Other images include a gory corpse in a morgue, a decapitated head, and police photographs of murder scenes (remains of body parts). Bundy keeps violent pornographic magazines in his room. He is shown in a fantasy sequence being tied up in bed and beaten by women wearing leather masks, as close-ups of Bundy's face give the appearance that he's masturbating. Police officers talk of Bundy's methods of killings women, how he bludgeons, rapes, and kills them. Marijuana smoking, cigarette smoking, and beer drinking are seen, and there's some profanity, including "f--k." On the positive side, Kathleen McChesney, one of the officers and later FBI agents who helped to finally bring Bundy to justice, is presented as an intelligent and dedicated law enforcement officer starting her career at a time when women were surrounded by sexism and weren't allowed to work as agents in the FBI. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In TED BUNDY: AMERICAN BOOGEYMAN, Seattle Homicide Detective Kathleen McChesney (Holland Rosen) is investigating the gruesome murders of young women in the Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions in the mid-1970s. As she studies the patterns behind these killings, the male-dominated police force gives her little support, but when rookie FBI Agent Robert Ressler (Jake Hays) begins working with her, they're determined to work day and night to catch this, to use a term they coined, "serial killer." They track him down, and his name is Ted Bundy ( Chad Michael Murray ). Bundy reveals himself to be completely devoid of remorse over his actions, and he's sent to prison. Two years later, Bundy escapes from prison in the dead of winter and is on the loose again, and McChesney (now with the FBI) and Ressler surmise that he has escaped to a warmer climate. When similar attacks begin happening in and around Florida State University in Tallahassee, McChesney and Ressler immediately go there, where Bundy is now living in a guesthouse on the property of a sorority house. McChesney tracks him down, but must stop him before he attempts one more murder spree in the sorority house.

Is It Any Good?

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman is yet another of the roughly two dozen documentaries and feature-length movies "based on true events" about the serial killer. Often shot like a horror movie, with jump scares and suspenseful music galore, the movie comes across as a cynical Hollywood attempt to sensationalize gruesome violence and exploit Bundy's incomprehensibly evil murders and the traumatic suffering endured by those who survived what Bundy did. While the movie does give equal time to the FBI agents who tracked Bundy down, and a "Where are they now?" montage at the end discusses the positive work those who caught or survived Bundy did in the years after the serial murders, disturbing sequences involving Bundy's fantasies and the suspense leading up to the attacks are much more likely to resonate, unfortunately.

It's not a bad movie from a technical standpoint. But it doesn't really contribute anything new to a story told too many times about a sociopath who doesn't deserve so much of "the Hollywood treatment," or any of it, really. What does it say about an industry that, for every documentary about, say, Gandhi, churns out roughly one billion documentaries about serial killers and fascist dictators? Are audiences really that evil-obsessed, or is this a cynical appeal to an innate fascination with people trying to make sense of ugly true-life evil? Do we better understand serial or mass murder, or is this merely lowest common denominator entertainment? It's past time to derive so much "entertainment value" from creeps like Bundy, and long past time to take the "anti" out of "anti-heroes."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about true crime horror-thrillers like Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman . Does this movie sensationalize and exploit the real-life terror Bundy inflicted on his victims? Why, or why not?

Currently, there are around two dozen documentaries and movies "based on true events" about Ted Bundy. Why? Why does Hollywood, to say nothing of all the cable TV programs out there, spend so much time on evil people who caused so much misery?

How does the movie convey the sexism that Kathleen McChesney worked in as she was starting her career?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : September 3, 2021
• Cast : Chad Michael Murray , Holland Roden , Jake Hays
• Director : Daniel Farrands
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Dark Star
• Genre : Thriller
• Topics : Great Girl Role Models , History
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 17, 2023

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Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

A specter roams the highways of a gritty 1970s America, his name is Ted Bundy. Hunting him are intrepid FBI agents Kathleen McChesney and Robert Ressler, organizers of the largest manhunt in history to apprehend America's most infamous serial killer more

A specter roams the highways of a gritty 1970s America, his name ... More

Starring: Chad Michael Murray Holland Roden Greer Grammer

Director: Daniel Farrands

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A specter roams the highways of a gritty 1970s America, his name is Ted Bundy. Hunting him are intrepid FBI agents Kathleen McChesney and Robert Ressler, organizers of the largest manhunt in history to apprehend America's most infamous serial killer

Starring: Chad Michael Murray Holland Roden Greer Grammer Jake Hays Lin Shaye

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Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman review – pointless portrait of a serial killer

This voyeuristic drama about the FBI hunt for Bundy makes his victims indistinguishable and leaves a nasty taste in the mouth

I couldn’t stomach this pointless and dull drama about the FBI hunt for loathsome serial killer Ted Bundy. It comes on the heels of the Zac Efron biopic and Netflix’s documentary series based on prison tape recordings with Bundy, who eventually confessed to murdering more than 30 women (and was suspected by police of killing many more). What this film adds to the Bundy frenzy is a portrait of the serial killer at work: driving around in his VW Beetle stalking and abducting young victims. It’s not that these slickly shot scenes are particularly gruesome, but they do feel cheap and voyeuristic. We watch his unsuspecting young victims, oblivious to what’s coming. Look, he’s behind you!

That said, Chad Michael Murray is a more convincing Bundy than Zac Efron; he plays it bland, dreary and dull, more inadequate. Even his nice-ordinary-guy charm has a skin-crawling quality. The film goes to some lengths to show off Bundy’s predator instincts. In the first murder shown, he uses a prop: hobbling on crutches in a car park pretending to have an injured leg. He makes a show of dropping his car keys. The victim – he preys on kindness – bends down, on her hands and knees to retrieve his keys from under the car. Another time he impersonates a cop to lure a teenager into his car. This is every woman’s worst nightmare. We watch the fear on their faces as they realise what’s happening. Do we really need to see it over and over again? It doesn’t help that the victims are mostly indistinguishable – an interchangeable series of pretty young white brunettes.

Investigating Bundy is cop Kathleen McChesney (Holland Roden) and FBI agent Robert Ressler (Jake Hays), a lightweight duo who stare furrow-eyebrowed at photos of blood-stained mattresses and bashed-in decomposed skulls. Honestly, there is no earthly reason for the existence of this film; it might work for the Bundyphiles but it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth for everyone else.

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Every Ted Bundy Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Serial killer Ted Bundy began his killing streak more than 40 years ago . Through early arrests and a highly-publicized trial, he captivated America with his charm and "good looks," although that latter claim is debatable. From the detectives working the case to psychologists to newspaper journalists, everyone wanted to know why the man displayed such a blatant disregard for human life, particularly women's. Countless books and documentaries, including Netflix's 2019 release "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" and " Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer ," have tried to delve below the surface to understand what made one of the world's most notorious killers tick.

Over the years, several mainstream and indie films focusing on Bundy have been produced as well. Many are schlocky, low budget offerings that fail to present new information or fresh perspectives. Others, though, approach the Bundy murders with care, merely referencing the tragedies in favor of reassessing who Bundy was by examining the relationships in his life. Ted Bundy was a monster; that's an indisputable fact. But a few of the stories found here are fascinating case studies in human nature, and show how such a seemingly normal, next-door-type fooled so many innocent people.

10. Bundy: An American Icon

By merely existing, films about Ted Bundy are salacious, transfixed on our cultural obsession with the macabre. Billed as a biopic, 2008's "Bundy: An American Icon" (also known as "Bundy: A Legacy of Evil") frames Bundy's life story through a myopic lens. Details about his childhood are distorted to elicit gross empathy from the viewer. That would be okay if this were a fictionalized retelling, but in context such blatant misinformation is irresponsible at best. Flashbacks are mixed with boring walk-throughs of Bundy's crimes, exposing nothing that we haven't already seen in much better films.

With director Michael Feifer at the helm, "Bundy: An American Icon" has little creative merit. Its shoddy production, amateurish cinematography, and tepid lead performance by Corin Nemic make this a bottom-of-the-barrel offering. There's a crudeness to the low budget (not an inherent fault of a film) that could work in better, more capable hands. But here, it is simply an exhausting exercise in perverse violence that has nothing new or remarkable to say about its subject. You have to wonder exactly why a horror icon like Kane Hodder (known for his work as Jason Voorhees in the "Friday the 13th" franchise) signed on to such an egregious display.

9. Bundy and the Green River Killer

Budgetary restrictions are not a reason to dismiss a film. Rather, it's what filmmakers do with their limited resources that matters. Unfortunately, "Bundy and the Green River Killer" neither rises above its modest means nor has anything interesting to say. Directed by Andrew Jones, this 2019 film is a tepid attempt to dig into the story of infamous killer Gary Ridgway, whose case famously required insight from outside sources, including death-row inmate Ted Bundy .

Richard Mark and Jared Nelson give little life to Bundy and Ridgway, respectfully. They often feel completely detached from the rest of the picture and its players, although both actors have a strange, aloof tendency in their performances that would work quite well in another context, and with a better script. 

Throughout the '80s and '90s, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington became the backdrop for Ridgway's murders, which largely involved sex workers. David Reichert (whose name was changed to David Richards in the film, and who's portrayed by Mark Homer) led the investigation with help from Robert Keppel (Bob Keller, played by Phillip Roy). "Bundy and the Green River Killer" painfully walks through the events of the case, particularly how Bundy wrote Reichert a letter to offer his services, and several of their one-on-one conversations. While Bundy did offer up advice to the task force, his involvement in helping solve the case is overblown.

8. Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

No one could have predicted that a '90s heartthrob would one day don the mantle of a serial killer, but here we are. As with most actors hired for the lead role, Chad Michael Murray is far too handsome to pull off Bundy's bizarre, mousy look. However, the "One Tree Hill" star has plenty of presence, particularly during solo moments when he's required to dig deep into the mania of a killer.

Daniel Farrands directs, and "Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman" is surprisingly far less exploitative than his offensive glimpses into the murders of Sharon Tate and Nicole Brown Simpson. Farrands, also known for penning 1995's "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers," could have easily tipped into the abyss of repulsive storytelling, yet he pulls the reins in here. He guides the viewer through the usual tentpoles of the story, from Bundy's early killings to the Florida State University massacre, with little purpose or drive. Moments of brilliant cinematography (a key moment involving Murray's silhouette as he descends upon the sorority is effectively chilling, for example) are muddled by an otherwise pedestrian perspective on the story.

Murray's best moment comes when he's alone in a Florida boarding house that's littered with mannequins. It's days after his much-publicized escape, and Bundy has reached his breaking point. Feeling like a leftover from 2012's "Maniac," it's one of the most unsettling sequences Murrary has ever appeared in, the only real bright spot in an otherwise shrug-worthy entry on this list.

7. The Capture of the Green River Killer

If you have three hours to spare — and you're bored — "The Capture of the Green River Killer" is not a total waste of time. Produced for Lifetime, you can expect the network's usual over-dramatization of events and superfluous plot points and characters. Much like 1986's "The Deliberate Stranger," this Norma Bailey-directed film is billed as a two-part miniseries and dives deep into the story of the hunt for Gary Ridgway, fleshing out detective Dave Reichert's family life and how he became entangled with Ted Bundy.

For Bundy's part, James Marsters only appears in one scene, and his performance is unremarkable. It certainly adheres closer how little Bundy was actually involved with solving the case, and that should be commended. That said, the 2008 feature plays to the emotions as much as possible. A new character named Helen (Amy Davidson) serves as a stand-in for the many real-life victims whose lives were ripped apart. The addition of her story, which takes her from familial strife to sex work as way to make ends meet, holds together a sterile crime procedural. Often, Helen speaks directly to the camera, even after her death, turning the entire feature into nothing more than a glorified PSA.

6. The Riverman

"The Riverman" was released in 2004, the same year as "Saw," both of which starred Cary Elwes. Elwes' turn as the demented serial killer probably slipped under most people's radars, largely due to an oversaturation of Bundy-related content. The film, directed by Bill Eagles, largely focuses on Detective Dave Reichart (Sam Jaeger) and his hunt for the Green River Killer. Robert Keppel (Bruce Greenwood), a criminology professor at Washington State who worked on the task force that caught Bundy a decade prior, is roped into the investigation. He soon receives a personal letter from Bundy, who offers up his services to help track down the new murderer.

As such, Bundy is a secondary character, but Elwes makes the most of it. The many one-on-one conversations featuring Bundy are shockingly engaging and frequently unnerving, with Elwes serving up a truly menacing performance. He oscillates between Bundy's cool charm and his threatening presence with refreshing subtlety. It's never overcooked or under-baked, and it's a real shame that Elwes never had the chance to lead a more Bundy-centric film.

Bundy's tips for catching a criminal, particularly his advice to consider the possibility that the killer had been arrested before, lead to an arrest and, eventually, a conviction. "The Riverman" is a decent watch, and gives the viewer a deeper understanding of the man behind the madness.

5. Ted Bundy

Director Matthew Bright manages to capture Ted Bundy's double life quite effectively. Co-written by Stephen Johnston, the 2002 film "Ted Bundy" blends Bundy's seemingly idyllic home life with the grotesque violence that made the man infamous. Jovial musical choices starkly contrast with haunting images; it's sometimes distracting, but serves to underscore the reality of how charming the serial killer really was. Michael Reilly Burke delivers a solid lead performance as Bundy, playing opposite Boti Bliss as his girlfriend Lee (loosely based on Bundy's real life partner, Elizabeth Kloepfer).

The film largely excels in telling Bundy's story as frankly as possible, unaltered by the public's perception of the events. Several uncomfortable sequences in the third act display Bundy's total disregard for human life, particularly a rape scene involving two of his victims. There is a realism in these moments that feel ripped out of 1978's rape-revenge film "I Spit on Your Grave," a coarse presentation that is downright sickening. The film never crosses completely into exploitation, but it toes the line. Otherwise, "Ted Bundy" walks viewers through the facts of the case, culminating in Bundy's execution by electric chair.

4. Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me

Despite being made for TV, the 2003 film "The Stranger Beside Me," an adaption of Ann Rule's acclaimed book, does not suffer from a low budget. Performances by Billy Campbell as Ted Bundy and Barbara Hershey as Ann Rule, who once worked alongside the killer at a crisis center, make the film a compelling glimpse into Bundy's platonic relationships. It is directed by Paul Shapiro, with a script co-written by Matthew McDuffie and Matthew Tabak.

Bundy's crimes take a back seat in this film, which focuses instead on his friendship with Rule. Like others, Rule never suspected her co-worker of his involvement in grisly murderers, but as the body count climbs, she begins to have doubts, and eventually reports Bundy to the police. However, law enforcement has been overwhelmed with possible leads, and her report is simply added to a growing stack of paperwork.

"The Stranger Beside Me" comes from a firmly unique perspective. It foregoes any sort of exploitation in favor thoughtful, engaging storytelling. Of course, Hershey's ("Black Swan," "The Entity") emotional performance does a lot to ground this retelling of actual events.

3. Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger

It shouldn't come as a surprise that "Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger" was released during Ted Bundy's life. Originally broadcast on NBC as a two-part miniseries, the film presents an honest portrayal of Bundy's crimes. Even his lawyer, Polly Nelson, praised the film in her 1994 book "Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy's Last Lawyer." Despite its bloated three-hour runtime, Mark Harmon shines with a Golden Globe-nominated performance that embodies everything the serial killer was: mainly, a terrifying charmer with a psychotic nature.

In 1980, Seattle Times reporter Richard W. Larsen published the book on which the film is based. Larsen's perspective offers important insights, and draws upon his own experiences covering Bundy's life and crimes in real time, starting with a 1972 interview he conducted during Bundy's political days and moving through the 1974 slayings. With direction by Marvin J. Chomsky, "The Deliberate Stranger" expands upon the story's known facts by taking a deeper, microscopic look into Bundy's private life, including his work at a suicide hotline and his burgeoning romance with Elizabeth Kendall (Glynnis O'Connor), whose name was changed for the film to Cas Richter.

2. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile

The best Ted Bundy films are those that devote little screen time to the actual murders. The strange casting of Zac Efron aside (he's far too good looking), what makes "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile" special is the lens through which the story is told. In lieu of giving Bundy yet another platform, filmmaker Joe Berlinger hands the proverbial mic to Elizabeth Kendall, portrayed by Lily Collins.

The film takes cues from Kendall's own biography, "The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy," and offers the viewer a perspective we've never witnessed before. We see how the two met, fell in love, and nurtured a family together. As Bundy plots his rampage, we get a glimpse into Liz's reconciliation of the loving family man she knew with the deranged killer in the headlines. Collins' performance is frequently moving, even soul-crushing, and you easily understand the spell Bundy cast over her and the many other women in his life. Efron is fine as Bundy, even if he's not especially inspired, which works since Bundy is not the narrator of this story. It's fully, unapologetically Liz's, and it's empowering that she finally gets to tell it.

1. No Man of God

It's been more than 30 years since Ted Bundy's execution , and there's very little we don't know about one of the most notorious killers in history. Everything, from his childhood to his political work to the murders, has been put under the microscope. No stone has been left unturned.

That said, "No Man of God" is one of the most surprising additions to the Bundy filmography. The movie, directed by Amber Sealy, reexamines the story through Bundy's "friendship" with FBI agent Bill Hagmaier. Transcripts and recordings from conversations conducted between 1984 and 1989 serve as the basis for the film, laying the foundation for a very different perspective than we're used to. As Hagmaier, Elijah Wood plays opposite Luke Kirby, who delivers the most brilliantly chilling on-screen Bundy to date.

Kirby's cool, calculated performance seems eerily ripped from Bundy's real-life interviews. When he explodes in anger, or his facial expression turns from congenial to menacing, you feel it in your core. Kirby's entire performance is a showpiece, but the most unsettling moment comes in the final scene, in which he finally confesses to several crimes, and it appears that he's relishing the details. Pulling off these beats is the mark of a truly great actor, and Kirby is a cut above the rest.

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The title of Joe Berlinger's "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" comes from the famous post-sentencing remarks of Judge Edward Cowart to Ted Bundy, America's most notorious (to this day) serial killer. Cowart called the killings "extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile and the product of a design to inflict a high degree of pain and utter indifference to human life." What is so interesting about Berlinger's film is how strongly it resists showing Ted as "wicked" or "evil." Bundy is never shown committing a crime. We are left instead with a terrifying void, the void of Bundy himself, a blank space where a human being should be. Knowing the details of Bundy's life—his shame at being born out of wedlock, for example—only takes us so far. Lots of people are born out of wedlock. Only one became Ted Bundy. Refusing to explain Ted Bundy is the strongest possible choice Berlinger could have made because it destabilizes reality. The film itself gaslights us, and this is where Berlinger and Zac Efron —an inspired choice—are powerful co-creators. 

Loosely based on  The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy , the memoir of Bundy's long-time girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (played here by Lily Collins ), "Extremely Wicked" starts in Elizabeth's point of view. A single mother, holding down a secretarial job, Liz expresses to a friend her insecurities about finding a man. What man wants a woman with a kid? A predator like Ted Bundy is quick to sniff out insecure women like Liz. She meets him at a bar, and he charms her. Easily. She brings him home. They don't have sex. The next morning, she finds him in the kitchen with her baby daughter, and he's making breakfast, wearing a yellow apron. Liz can't believe it. Is this guy too good to be true?

How something happens is more important than what happens, particularly in a story where the details are well-known. "Extremely Wicked" mixes Liz's point of view with Bundy's, but there are some crucial differences in approach. Berlinger puts us inside Liz's growing terror that she's been living with the guy who maybe did the horrible things she's seeing on the news. Their happy relationship, shown in home movie footage, is intercut with extant local news reports of girls gone missing in the area, girls showing up dead, two brazen abductions in broad daylight. The police sketch released to the public looks kind of like her boyfriend, but Liz can't be sure. Berlinger follows Bundy, too, but in the Bundy sequences, we only see his outer behavior, what he does . This captures Bundy's opaque quality, the sense you get of a camouflage hiding his true nature. Bundy insists—with increasing aggravation—that he has been wrongly accused. 

A lesser film would have intercut the happy home scenes with scenes of Bundy killing college co-eds, just to remind us of Bundy's evil. A lesser film would have provided flashbacks to his childhood, in an attempt to explain why. Instead, we are banished from his secret life, just like Liz is banished from it. We see him as she sees him, and he is a dazzlingly disorienting figure. This is what Efron taps into; this is what Efron understands. 

Efron became a child star when a generation of girls lost their minds over "High School Musical." (Teenage girls are often the first to recognize who will be the Next Big Thing, and their screams of ecstasy are ignored or mocked. But teenage girls picked out Elvis Presley , they picked out Sinatra, they picked out Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson . Maybe, instead of belittling teenage girls' frenzies, we should follow the sound to see what the fuss is about.) Efron's transition from teen idol to adult actor has not always been smooth. His performance in the Seth Rogen comedy "Neighbors" had strangely deep stirrings, and critics took note. He was exhilarating in " The Greatest Showman ," because he got to sing and dance. (Classic Hollywood would not have been confused about what to do with Efron.) 

As Ted Bundy, Efron gets to use his natural assets—his face, his body, his charisma—and he gets to use them full-bore. Often really beautiful actors feel the need to "ugly" themselves up in order to be taken seriously. Efron so far has resisted. He has old-school movie star wattage and an ability to project his essence through the screen. Using his animal charm in service of Ted Bundy is so disturbing, but it works in subtextual ways, providing the "missing piece" when people ask why and how Bundy could have happened. It's hard to be as charming as Efron is. Try it and see for yourself. Efron doesn't telegraph to the audience Bundy's sinister motives, he does not distance himself from Bundy's charming modus operandi. His smokescreen is impenetrable. There are moments when Efron looks so much like Bundy (especially with the beard), it is truly eerie, but it's more than just an outer transformation. Occasionally, there is a brief glimpse on his face of what Bundy's victims probably saw in their final moments. But Efron is in charge of when and how we get to see it. It deserves to be called a thrilling performance.

Kaya Scodelario plays Carole Ann Boone, Bundy's girlfriend during his imprisonment in Florida. Recently, the news broke that Christopher Watts, who killed his pregnant wife and two children in 2018, was being bombarded by love letters from women around the country. It's a bafflingly common phenomenon, and Scodelario, in a very intelligent performance, suggests why. If there's a void in Bundy, there's a void in Carole too. Liz's descent into alcoholism is handled well by Collins, as is the intervention of a co-worker, played by Haley Joel Osment . John Malkovich rules the roost as Judge Cowart, making Cowart's famous words bristle with real ethical loathing. The courtroom scenes lack some of the dizzying charge of other sequences, maybe because it's a re-creation of well-known footage (the entire trial was televised, a first of its kind). 

Ted Bundy was executed in Florida on January 24, 1989, making this year the 30th anniversary of his death. Similar to the glut of Manson movies this year marking the 50th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca killings, Bundy is suddenly everywhere. In January, "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" dropped on Netflix, a four-part documentary also directed by Berlinger, featuring Bundy's 1980 tape-recorded conversations with two journalists while on death row. Many seemed disturbed at the focus on Bundy's looks, as though mentioning his handsomeness was akin to endorsing his diabolical crimes. A month or so later, the first trailer for "Extremely Wicked" dropped, and the online reaction was negative. According to its critics, the trailer glorified Bundy, it glorified Efron's cuteness. What was fascinating about all of this, and why I'm mentioning it, was that these conversations were basically replicating the media firestorm back in the 1970s, when the horror of Ted Bundy's killing spree became known. The focus on his looks struck many as unseemly back then, too. Women showed up in court for his trial giggling like they were at a Stones concert. People were horrified. Here it all was, playing out again in 2019.

There will always be those who want art to declare its intentions with neon signs pointing down like "This is bad. Don't do this." "Extremely Wicked" rightly resists such declarations and it refuses to offer explanations. You don't ask why a tornado or a tsunami is destructive. You don't dig into a grizzly bear's past to understand why it attacks. You just know these things are dangerous and you need to avoid them. If you want to understand why Ted Bundy got away with what he did for as long as he did, watch Efron flirt with Collins in the scene where the characters first meet. Look for signs of Bundy's malevolence. Squint for evidence of his evil. You won't find it. Neither did Liz. That’s why it’s terrifying. 

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

Rated R for disturbing/violent content, some sexuality, nudity and language.

108 minutes

Zac Efron as Ted Bundy

Lily Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer / Liz Kendall

John Malkovich as Judge Edward Cowart

Kaya Scodelario as Carole Ann Boone

Jeffrey Donovan as John O'Connell

Angela Sarafyan as Joanna

Jim Parsons as Larry Simpson

Dylan Baker as David Yokum

James Hetfield as Officer Bob Hayward

Haley Joel Osment as Jerry

• Joe Berlinger

Writer (based on the book: "The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy" by)

• Elizabeth Kendall
• Michael Werwie

Cinematographer

• Brandon Trost
• Josh Schaeffer
• Marco Beltrami
• Dennis Smith

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Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman – Netflix Review (1/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Jan 21, 2022 | 4 minutes

AILEEN WUORNOS: AMERICAN BOOGEYWOMAN on Netflix is really not worth watching. It’s both wildly inaccurate and plays out like a soap opera. Watch Monster (2003) or any Aileen Wuornos documentary instead. Read our full  American Boogeywoman movie review here!

AILEEN WUORNOS: AMERICAN BOOGEYWOMAN is a new Netflix addition. It’s a horror, thriller, drama hybrid that simply is not worth your time. It’s wildly speculative (if not downright inaccurate). However, the filmmakers get around this by using the good old “Inspired by true events” description.

The actors work with ungrateful material, so I can’t even blame them. Well, no, I  can  blame Tobin Bell ( Jigsaw ) for even taking part in it. Surely, he can get a better job than this. Overall, it feels extremely soapy and exploitative.

Continue reading our American Boogeywoman movie review below.

Boogeyman and Boogeywoman of America?!

Also, the fact that there was also made an “American Boogeyman” about Ted Bundy by the same writer/director just does not sit well with me. Having Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos in the same category in any  way is just f*cked up in my book. Sure, both are convicted serial killers, but their motives and actions are wildly different.

One hunted down his victims as a predator. The other had lived a terrible life since being born and killed those who sought her out as a prostitute.

For the record, I am not saying Aileen Wuornos was innocent. She killed several men (and admitted as much) but at least some of the murders seem to have been actual self-defense. And she never went out hunting for victims in the way Ted Bundy did.

WATCH THIS TED BUNDY STORY INSTEAD The Netflix movie about Ted Bundy is very historically accurate in most ways >

They did both end their lives in Florida executed as serial killers. So I guess they do have that in common. Also, both American Boogeyman/Boggeywoman movies have a rating on IMDb under 4, which seems very accurate.

Classic Hollywood casting – in the worst way!

If you’ve ever seen a picture of Aileen Wuornos, you’ll know that she didn’t really look anything like Peyton List does in  American Boogeywoman . Then again, Ted Bundy definitely did not look like Chad Michael Murray does in American Boogeyman either.

Now, you might think “Well, come on now, Charlize Theron and Zac Efron don’t look like those two either!” And you’d be right, of course. However, both also changed their appearance to try and match the look of Aileen Wuornos and Ted Bundy respectively.

In  Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman they seem to want to sell the whole “sexy serial killer”-angle. So, they tell a story from her youth and cast a young Disney-famous star. Again, not one bad word about Peyton List. She is still at the beginning of her career as an adult, serious actor. I get it! More power to her.

I do not, however, understand why Tobin Bell wants to take part in this shit show (pardon my French). Again, the same goes for Chad Michael Murray and Holland Roden ( No Escape ) who co-starred in American Boogeyman . Surely, taking on these roles is not a way to build up a solid career. Cash, sure, but for their career. Ooof!

You can find  American Boogeywoman  on Netflix now!

Daniel Farrands is the writer and director of  Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman . Just as he was on  Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman.  As a director, he has focused on documentaries a lot. Or rather, first he did documentaries about famous horror movies.

In more recent years, Daniel Farrands has turned to direct feature films based on real-life tragedies. The two movies mentioned above and also The Haunting of Sharon Tate  (2019) and  The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (2019) . Always with rather big (or buzz-worthy) names in the lead roles.

In other words, he’s building a career on exploiting the tragic life (and death) events of real-life people. And people must watch them since they keep coming. In spite of his 2019 movies having IMDb ratings under 3 and people clearly loathe them.

I would  wholeheartedly  recommend that you avoid this one on Netflix. Watch Monster  (2003) by Patty Jenkins, starring Charlize Theron in her Academy Award-winning role, a thousand times instead. Or, you could check out one of the many documentaries about Aileen Wuornos.

There’s even an episode in the new Netflix docu-series Catching Killers  that’s about her. That really isn’t one of the better documentary productions, but it’s still better than this movie.

DO CHECK OUT Our Season 1 review of the Netflix true-crime documentary series Catching Killers  her >

Finally, you can just search for “Aileen Wuornos” on YouTube and find plenty of coverage and interviews with her from before she was executed. An execution she herself ended up expediting because she had simply had enough of this world that had never shown her much joy.

If it sounds like I’m feeling sorry for her, then that would be accurate. However, that  still  does not mean I can (or want to) excuse her actions. Nor can I excuse this movie for continuing to misuse and abuse her!

Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman  is out on Netflix in the US and UK from January 21, 2022. Also, you can watch it On-Demand in most countries worldwide, though I would not recommend paying to watch this.

Director: Daniel Farrands Writer: Daniel Farrands Stars: Peyton List, Tobin Bell, Lydia Hearst, Swen Temmel, Nick Vallelonga, Meadow Williams, Andrew Biernat, Ashley Atwood, Christa Collins, Christopher Corbin, Joseph Schwartz, Ben Smith-Petersen, Leslie Stratton

In 1976, Aileen Wuornos marries a yacht club president and causes mayhem in Florida high society. Loosely based on the serial killer’s life.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ Review: Zac Efron Impresses as Ted Bundy

The dichotomy between the serial killer's charm and his monstrous crimes is told through the eyes of his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth.

This is a re-post of our  Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile review from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film is now available to stream on Netflix.

People have long been fascinated by serial killers. What could make one human being capable of enacting such evil towards his fellow man? But Ted Bundy remains one of the most intriguing monsters in history simply because of how strongly people wanted to not believe he could be capable of the horrors he inflicted on women throughout his life. He was famously charismatic and charming, to the point that he had a gaggle of young female supporters all throughout his murder trial. This dichotomy between Bundy’s seemingly charismatic nature and the nausea-inducing crimes he committed is the crux of the new film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile , in which a perfectly cast Zac Efron puts on the charm offensive as Bundy. The story of Bundy’s crimes is told though the eyes of his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth ( Lily Collins ), and while it doesn’t quite click fully into the gear it’s aiming for, it touches upon some fascinating notions of human nature and boasts a truly impressive performance from Efron.

Written by Michael Werwie , Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is based on the book The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy , written by Bundy’s girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, and likewise the film is mostly told from Elizabeth’s point of view. Bundy’s murderous crimes aren’t shown, as we’re instead in Elizabeth’s headspace for the majority of the film. It’s a bold decision on the part of director Joe Berlinger , but it proves to be an insightful one.

Elizabeth was in a six-year relationship with Bundy during the time of his murders in the early 1970s. Even as Bundy was arrested, Elizabeth had a hard time reconciling these purported crimes with the man who seemingly showed genuine love and compassion towards her and her daughter. The film doesn’t initially offer detailed information of Bundy’s crimes, or anything other than what Elizabeth knew at the time, which provides a path towards understanding how she could be so noncommittal about his guilt for so long. We don’t see Bundy killing, we don’t hear the details of his crimes. We only see the man Elizabeth saw, and his subsequent declaration of innocence in the face of seemingly impossible cruelty.

The crux of Extremely Wicked follows Bundy’s many arrests, prisons breaks, and final murder trial in Florida, and the film would have admittedly benefited from showing a bit more of the relationship building between Ted and Elizabeth to provide a more solid emotional foundation for what follows. Regardless, it’s fascinating to watch Bundy smooth-talk law enforcement officials and especially Elizabeth herself, maintaining his innocence all the way up through his death penalty conviction.

Efron is pretty pitch perfect here, delivering the best performance of his career thus far. He imbues Bundy with an undeniable charm and likability, but never tipping the scales into glorifying the man. What’s brilliant about Efron’s performance is how he subtly lets the audience in on the façade that Bundy is putting up. You can see he’s charming, sure, but you can also tell that hiding right underneath that smirk is a wealth of anxiety and anger. Bundy’s outlandish attempts to keep Elizabeth on his side and later to win his trial while defending himself come off as desperate attempts to wiggle free, not endearing quirks as some may have feared.

No doubt many were worried a film like Extremely Wicked would attempt to glorify or justify Bundy’s crimes, but the film does no such thing. Instead, it’s a fascinating look at the confounding contrast between Bundy’s seemingly genuine affection for Elizabeth and the inhuman and sickening acts he perpetrated against dozens of other women. Did Bundy truly love Elizabeth? How could he justify loving this woman while routinely attacking, dismembering, and debasing other women? Berlinger’s film comes short of providing an answer, but it does offer fascinating insight on Elizabeth’s side, allowing audiences to at least somewhat understand why it took her so long to acknowledge that Bundy was indeed guilty.

Collins does a great job of keeping it all together with the character of Elizabeth, which is no easy task. She imbues the character with a mixture of sadness, confusion, and embarrassment. And while the film is told from her point of view, she does somewhat frustratingly drop out of the movie for a good while in the middle. There are plenty of scenes of her moping around her house, watching Bundy’s trial wholly enraptured, but it would have been nice to get a bit more insight into her personal thoughts during this ordeal. Instead, the film switches focus here to Bundy’s escape attempts and efforts to exonerate himself. Which are admittedly engaging, but the film suddenly comes alive anew during the final confrontation scene between Ted and Elizabeth.

The crimes of Ted Bundy remain fascinating all these years later in part because he’s such a confounding man. Obviously nothing can compare to the pain inflicted on the families of his victims, but Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile offers unique insight into how the inhuman actions of a monster impact his own loved ones. And how we as humans will go to great lengths to ignore or explain away the actions of those we love. Because after all, if the person we love is a monster, what does that make us?

5 best new to Hulu movies that are 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes

'Little Women,' 'Wonder Woman,' 'Captain Phillips' and more great movies land on Hulu this month

Spring has sprung, and with it tons of  new movies are arriving on Hulu . While the  streaming service  is better known for its TV shows than its movies, but that doesn't mean you should sleep on its top-notch film library. 

This month, the best movies on Hulu are joined by some award-winning titles praised by critics and audiences alike. Leading the pack are blockbusters like Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" and the DCEU powerhouse "Wonder Woman." But you'll also find some offbeat thrillers like the thought-provoking "Take Shelter" or "The Host," a monster movie by "Parasite" director Bong Joon-Ho. 

We've separated the wheat from the chaff by consulting the review aggregation site  Rotten Tomatoes  to include only the most positively reviewed films new to Hulu. So you know that most critics have given them their stamp of approval. So turn on the TV, grab some popcorn, and get ready to start watching. Here are the best movies new to Hulu this month.

'Little Women' (2019)

Hot on the heels of her success with "Lady Bird," "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig delivered the moving adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel "Little Women" that we didn't know we needed. Gerwig’s version takes a non-linear approach to Alcott’s story of four sisters growing up in Civil War-era Massachusetts. 

Gerwig does a masterful job of maintaining this beloved coming-of-age tale while infusing it with her own style of humor, heart, and sorrow. And given her actor-focused directorial style, it's no surprise that "Little Women" boasts an all-star cast including Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Emma Watson and more. 

Genre: Drama Rotten Tomatoes score: 95% Watch it on Hulu starting April 22

'Wonder Woman' (2017)

Countless actresses have donned the Wonder Woman leotard, but this was the first film where the famous superheroine got the spotlight all to herself. Gal Gadot was a great pick for the character, who leaves the protection of the only home she's ever known — the women-only paradise island of Themyscira — to join the fight of World War I, which she believes was started by the god Ares to destroy mankind. 

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Patty Jenkins, known for writing and directing her breakout film, "Monster," led what would become one of the most critically acclaimed installments of the DC Extended Universe series. "Wonder Woman" is packed with stunning visual effects that complement and the film's romance feels realistic without being overdone, pairing well with a touch of humor sprinkled throughout.

Genre: Action/adventure Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% Stream it now on Hulu

'Take Shelter' (2011)

“Take Shelter” follows the journey of a seemingly ordinary family man (Michael Shannon) who becomes haunted by apocalyptic dreams and visions of a looming storm. Fearing for the safety of his loved ones, he begins fashioning an elaborate backyard shelter. 

Though his wife (Jessica Chastain) expresses concern for his mental health and insists on counseling, he refuses to stop building his bunker, even when it threatens to cost him the family he is trying to protect. With nuanced performances from Shannon and Chastain, "Take Shelter" is a thoughtful thriller full of twists and turns that tackles serious subject matters and raises some interesting questions about how far we're willing to go for the people we love. 

Genre: Drama/mystery, thriller, horror Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% Watch it now on Hulu

'The Host' (2006)

Before he found international acclaim with "Parasite," Oscar-winner Bong Joon-Ho directed a number of fantastic films, including his seminal monster movie "The Host."

The legendary director weaves together a chilling tale inspired by real-life reports that begins with American military personnel dumping toxic chemicals into South Korea’s Han River. A few years later, a horrific giant creature emerges from the water to attack people and abduct a young woman (Go Ah-sung). Her father, Gang-Du (Song Kang-ho) leads a rescue mission to get her back, though he must overcome obstacles and officials in his path.

Genre: Horror/comedy Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% Watch it now on Hulu

'Captain Phillips' (2013)

Part of "Captain Phillips" was shot near my hometown (a cafe there named a dish after Tom Hanks after he stopped by for a bite during filming), so I'm legally obligated to include it on this list. In the film, which is inspired by a true story, Hanks plays the titular container ship captain who was taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009.

Hanks' Captain Phillips is pragmatic and seemingly unflappable, risking his life to safeguard his crew from the dangerous men who board his ship. As the situation looks increasingly dire, he puts on a brave face and confronts the pirate leader (Barkhad Abdi) he maintains his resolve despite mounting peril. Director Paul Greengrass keeps the tension high, delivering a suspenseful, gripping movie that places the audience squarely into Phillips' shoes. 

Genre: Drama/action Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% Watch it now on Hulu

More from Tom's Guide

• Netflix has a disturbing new drama based on a true story — and it’s 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
• 5 top new shows to stream this week on Netflix, Max, TV and more (April 15-21)
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Alyse Stanley is a news editor at Tom’s Guide overseeing weekend coverage and writing about the latest in tech, gaming and entertainment. Prior to joining Tom’s Guide, Alyse worked as an editor for the Washington Post’s sunsetted video game section, Launcher. She previously led Gizmodo’s weekend news desk, where she covered breaking tech news — everything from the latest spec rumors and gadget launches to social media policy and cybersecurity threats.  She has also written game reviews and features as a freelance reporter for outlets like Polygon, Unwinnable, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. She’s a big fan of horror movies, cartoons, and miniature painting.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Under The Bridge’ On Hulu, A Drama About The Real Life Murder Of A Teen In A Small Canadian Town

Where to stream:.

• Under the Bridge

How ‘Under The Bridge’ Stars Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough Stripped Sensationalism Out Of Their True Crime Drama Series

Stream it or skip it: ‘see you in another life’ on hulu, about a teen who participated in the 2004 madrid terror bombings, is ‘under the bridge’ based on a true story showrunners discuss speaking with reena virk’s father and more.

One of the big promotional points for the new Hulu limited series Under The Bridge is that it stars Lily Gladstone, right after her awards season run for her role in Killers of The Flower Moon . Here, she plays a cop investigating the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl in a small town on the British Columbian island of Victoria. The show is based on a true story from 1997 that has a ton of layers to it. How well does this series translate those layers to the screen?

UNDER THE BRIDGE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: As a car drives down a dark road, a voice says, “On its face, this story is the opposite of a fairy tale. But that’s only until you consider what fairy tales are really about.”

The Gist: “November 14, 1997.” On the British Columbian island of Victoria, in the town of Saanich, 14-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) gets picked up by her uncle Raj (Anoop Desai) outside her middle school. He’s gotten her the latest Biggie Smalls album as a gift. When he finds out she still hangs out with Dusty Pace (Aiyana Goodfellow), one of the girls from the Seven Oaks group home, he suggests she should make time to reconnect with her family. She gets out of the car while it’s moving and walks to Seven Oaks.

Reena is still completely disconnected from her parents, Suman (Archie Panjabi) and Manjit (Ezra Faroque Khan). and her return from Seven Oaks has been rough. Before dinner, she calls numbers from the book of a fellow Seven Oaks resident, Josephine Bell (Chloe Guidry), with whom she’s butted heads, telling people nasty things about Jo. Then she gets a call during dinner about a party at the house of Connor Fields (Jared Ager-Foster) and just leaves.

The call is a ruse, as Jo is out to get back at Reena for taking her stuff; Jo and other girls start chasing after her and drag her “under the bridge,” which is the bridge to and from the island, to beat her up.

At the same time, Rebecca Godfrey (Riley Keough) arrives on the island and her parents’ house on the lake. She grew up on the island, and is writing a book about the girls who lived in Seven Oaks and other group homes. She doesn’t exactly have a great relationship with her parents, especially her mother, and the entire Godfrey family suffered a loss before she left the island years ago.

After Reena doesn’t come home for three days, Raj and Manjit go to the Saanich police. Deputy Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone) and her brother, Deputy Scott Bentland (Daniel Diemer), are a bit skeptical, given that plenty of teens on the island run away from home. After speaking to Connor, one of the names in Jo’s book, about what happened that night at the party, she sees CCTV footage of Reena getting dragged under the bridge. She asks the chief, her father Roy (Matt Craven), for divers to look for Reena, or at least evidence that something happened. The divers end up finding articles of her clothing, but no body.

As part of her research for her book, Rebecca goes to Seven Oaks and befriends Dusty and Josephine. This is when she learns that the residents of Seven Oaks are called “Bic girls” because they’re considered to be disposable.

When Cam and the rest of the Saanich police start questioning people who were at the party that night, Jo calls on Rebecca to be her “guardian” with the police. But Rebecca wants to avoid interacting with Cam, whom she knew from her younger days on the island.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Despite being based on the true story portrayed in Godfrey’s book of the same name, Under The Bridge gives us a big Pretty Little Liars vibe.

Our Take: If you read up on the Reena Virk case, you know that there were a lot of people involved in her death, and that the case took a lot of twists and turns. But there’s also the story of the Virk family and the dynamic within it, including their conversion to Jehovah’s Witnesses and the circumstances that led Reena to spend time at Seven Oaks. Under The Bridge is set to include all of these aspects and twists, with the first episode accomplishing a lot of the complicated exposition in this story by showing and not telling.

Creator Quinn Shephard and showrunner Samir Mehta start with Reena’s disappearance, so the stakes are immediately ramped up. This is important, because there is so much more to the story that comes before it. We get just enough information about Reena and the situation she’s in; she was in a group home, she’s fallen in with a questionable group and she is not getting along with her family. Once Reena’s uncle and father approach the police and Cam starts looking into it, we have an idea who the players are even if we’re not sure exactly what happened.

There are other recent shows that have kept details like this mysterious, and it’s been frustrating to watch. Here, the crux of the story is Reena’s disappearance, and Shephard and Mehta don’t tiptoe around it or try to be cute with it.

By the end of the first episode, we’re just getting an idea of how involved Keough’s and Gladstone’s characters are going to be involved in this investigation, and how they’ll end up being connected. But there’s something in each of their pasts that gives them incentive to get further involved beyond just being a journalist and a cop, respectively.

What we appreciated about the first episode is that the tangential — but important — aspects of the story are left to be picked up in later episodes. Again, if you read up on the Virk case you know the reasons for why a seemingly good kid from a good family ended up in a group home, and we’re curious to see how that is handled, as well as the backstories of Cam, Rebecca and even the girls that attacked Reena.

Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.

Parting Shot: Cam is shocked when she sees CCTV footage of a staggering Reena emerge from under the bridge. Then we see her staggering over the bridge in real time. Nirvana’s “Something In The Way” plays.

Sleeper Star: Archie Panjabi has a thankless role as Reena’s mother Suman. While she’ll likely be a big driver of the investigation into Reena’s disappearance, and she feels the most bitter about the falling out Reena has had with the family. We hope she gets more to do than just being the rueful mother.

Most Pilot-y Line: Jo has pictures of John Gotti in a locket around her neck. We know she wants to be a gangster of some sort, but the desire to actually work for Gotti is a bit strange.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Under The Bridge has more than enough complications to make for compelling drama, and the first episode gives viewers just enough information about the case to hook them in without getting them frustrated.

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Lily Gladstone
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Ted Bundy Reviews

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 20, 2007

One of the rare movies that spend 100 minutes with someone only to glory in his protracted death.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 13, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 23, 2005

It fails in being historically accurate in most parts and becomes an almost comedy horror film until we are supposed to weep for the harsh treatment Bundy gets from his executioners. Its whole premise is fatally flawed.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Aug 10, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 28, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 22, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Mar 10, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2002

Instead of accurately accounting a terrible true story, the film's more determined to become the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But what about the countless other people who'd merely like to watch a solid tale about a universally interesting soul?

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 8, 2002

Bright seems alternately amused and disgusted with this material, and he can't help throwing in a few of his own touches.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 7, 2002

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 4, 2002

Exploitative and largely devoid of the depth or sophistication that would make watching such a graphic treatment of the crimes bearable.

Full Review | Oct 7, 2002

As Bundy, Michael Reilly Burke (Octopus 2: River of Fear) has just the right amount of charisma and menace.

Full Review | Sep 19, 2002

It's possible that something hip and transgressive was being attempted here that stubbornly refused to gel, but the result is more puzzling than unsettling.

An artsploitation movie with too much exploitation and too little art.

Full Review | Original Score: 35/100 | Sep 16, 2002

A trashy, exploitative, thoroughly unpleasant experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Sep 13, 2002

The feral brilliance of [Michael Reilly Burke's] performance lies in the way he evokes the subtle wrongness beneath the facade that gripped the public imagination.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 13, 2002

Disturbingly superficial in its approach to the material.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 12, 2002

Emmys: Supporting Actor (Limited/TV Movie) — Will Jonathan Bailey Snag His First Nom for ‘Fellow Travelers?’

Variety  Awards Circuit  section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars,  Emmys , Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by  Variety  senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

OSCARS  |  EMMYS  |  GRAMMYS  |  TONYS

2024 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie

Commentary (Updated: April 18, 2024) : Jonathan Bailey, acclaimed for his performances as Olly Stevens in “Broadchurch” and Lord Anthony in “Bridgerton,” has landed his most high-profile role to date in Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers.” In his role, Bailey portrays Tim Laughlin, a young congressional staffer entangled in a romantic relationship with a World War II veteran, played by Matt Bomer. Executing an empathetic and poignant portrayal, earned him critical acclaim, including a major win at this year’s Critics Choice Awards, where he surpassed competitors such as Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”) and Taylor Kitsch (“Painkiller”).

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr., riding high from his Academy Award win for Christopher Nolan’s best picture winning drama “Oppenheimer,” could be in line to achieve a rare feat. He aims to be the first man, and third person overall, to win both an Emmy and an Oscar acting awards in the same year. In HBO/Max’s satirical black comedy “The Sympathizer,” Downey Jr. showcases his versatility by playing four distinct characters, a performance that positions him as a strong contender for his second Emmy nomination. His first came 23 years ago in supporting comedy actor in the classic “Ally McBeal.”

Also in the realm, FX’s “Shōgun” has been leading the pack as a frontrunner the past few weeks, though its prospects in the acting categories have remained uncertain given the strong competition from many seasoned nominees and winners. Tadanobu Asano is emerging as a standout contender, while his co-stars Takehiro Hira and Yûki Kedôin are also potential inclusions, enhancing the series’ visibility on the awards circuit.

We’re two months from Emmy nomination voting and its already heating up.

Read:  Variety’s  Awards Circuit for the latest Primetime Emmy predictions in the major categories.

And the Predicted Nominees Are

Next in Line

Also in Contention

Eligible performances (supporting actor, limited/tv movie).

**The list below is not complete and have been confirmed as officially submitted. All information is subject to change. Grouped by network that airs each series.

• Denis Ménochet — “Monsieur Spade” (AMC)
• Jason Isaacs — “The Crowded Room” (Apple TV+)
• Noah Jupe — “Franklin” (Apple TV+)
• Eddie Marsan — “Franklin” (Apple TV+)
• Beau Bridges — “Lessons in Chemistry” (Apple TV+)
• Derek Cecil — “Lessons in Chemistry” (Apple TV+)
• Lewis Pullman — “Lessons in Chemistry” (Apple TV+)
• Anthony Boyle — “Manhunt” (Apple TV+)
• Brandon Flynn — “Manhunt” (Apple TV+)
• Hamish Linklater — “Manhunt” (Apple TV+)
• Patton Oswalt — “Manhunt” (Apple TV+)
• Matt Walsh — “Manhunt” (Apple TV+)
• Anthony Boyle — “Masters of the Air” (Apple TV+)
• Ncuti Gatwa — “Masters of the Air” (Apple TV+)
• Barry Keoghan — “Masters of the Air” (Apple TV+)
• Nate Mann — “Masters of the Air” (Apple TV+)
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes — “Archie” (BritBox)
• Vincent D’Onofrio — “Echo” (Disney+)
• Zahn McClarnon — “Echo” (Disney+)
• Chaske Spencer — “Echo” (Disney+)
• Kingsley Ben-Adir — “Secret Invasion” (Disney+)
• Don Cheadle — “Secret Invasion” (Disney+)
• Ben Mendelsohn — “Secret Invasion” (Disney+)
• Maaz Ali — “American Horror Story: Delicate” (FX)
• Denis O’Hare — “American Horror Story: Delicate” (FX)
• Brian J. Smith — “Class of ’09” (FX)
• Dave Foley — “Fargo” (FX)
• Joe Keery — “Fargo” (FX)
• Lamorne Morris — “Fargo” (FX)
• David Rysdahl — “Fargo” (FX)
• Sam Spruell — “Fargo” (FX)
• Joe Mantello — “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” (FX)
• Russell Tovey — “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” (FX)
• Treat Williams — “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” (FX)
• Tom Wilkinson — “The Full Monty” (FX)
• Harris Dickinson — “A Murder at the End of the World” (FX)
• Clive Owen — “A Murder at the End of the World” (FX)
• Tadanobu Asano — “Shōgun” (FX)
• Takehiro Hira — “Shōgun” (FX)
• Glynn Turman — “Black Cake” (Hulu)
• Mandy Patinkin — “Death and Other Details” (Hulu)
• Robert DeNiro — “Nada” (Hulu)
• Hunter Parrish — “The Other Black Girl” (Hulu)
• Will Ferrell — “Quiz Lady” (Hulu)
• Jason Schwartzman — “Quiz Lady” (Hulu)
• Anoop Desai — “Under the Bridge” (Hulu)
• Dali Benssalah — “The Veil” (Hulu)
• Josh Charles — “The Veil” (Hulu)
• James Purefoy — “The Veil” (Hulu)
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes — “We Were the Lucky Ones” (Hulu)
• Sam Woolf — “We Were the Lucky Ones” (Hulu)
• Curtis Tweedie — “Murdaugh Murders: The Movie – Parts 1 and 2” (Lifetime)
• Jharrel Jerome — “Full Circle” (Max)
• Timothy Olyphant — “Full Circle” (Max)
• Dennis Quaid — “Full Circle” (Max)
• Hank Azaria — “The Idol” (Max)
• Troye Sivan — “The Idol” (Max)
• Hugh Grant — “The Regime” (Max)
• Robert Downey Jr. — “The Sympathizer” (Max)
• Finn Bennett — “True Detective: Night Country” (Max)
• Christopher Eccleston — “True Detective: Night Country” (Max)
• John Hawkes — “True Detective: Night Country” (Max)
• Lennie James — “Genius: MLK/X” (National Geographic)
• Ron Cephas Jones — “Genius: MLK/X” (National Geographic)
• Hugh Laurie — “All the Light We Cannot See” (Netflix)
• Mark Ruffalo — “All the Light We Cannot See” (Netflix)
• Rory Culkin — “Black Mirror” (Netflix)
• Josh Hartnett — “Black Mirror” (Netflix)
• Simon Baker — “Boy Swallows Universe” (Netflix)
• Travis Fimmel — “Boy Swallows Universe” (Netflix)
• Anthony LaPaglia — “Boy Swallows Universe” (Netflix)
• McKinley Belcher III — “Eric” (Netflix)
• Henry Thomas — “Fall of the House of Usher” (Netflix)
• Alberto Guerra — “Griselda” (Netflix)
• Aml Ameen — “A Man in Full” (Netflix)
• Bill Camp — “A Man in Full” (Netflix)
• Tom Pelphrey — “A Man in Full” (Netflix)
• Taylor Kitsch — “Painkiller” (Netflix)
• Johnny Flynn — “Ripley” (Netflix)
• Rufus Sewell — “Scoop” (Netflix)
• Jason Clarke — “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” (Paramount+)
• Jake Lacy — “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” (Paramount+)
• Ismael Cruz Cordova — “Finestkind” (Paramount+)
• Tommy Lee Jones — “Finestkind” (Paramount+)
• Toby Wallace — “Finestkind” (Paramount+)
• Fehinti Balogun — “A Gentleman in Moscow” (Paramount+)
• Barry Pepper — “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (Paramount+)
• Dennis Quaid — “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (Paramount+)
• Donald Sutherland — “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (Paramount+)
• Jake Lacy — “Apples Never Fall” (Peacock)
• Luke Kirby — “Dr. Death” (Peacock)
• Hector Elizondo — “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” (Peacock)
• Jason Gray-Stanford — “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” (Peacock)
• Ted Levine — “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” (Peacock)
• Wood Harris — “Shooting Stars” (Peacock)
• Dermot Mulroney — “Shooting Stars” (Peacock)
• Harvey Keitel — “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” (Peacock)
• Jack Huston — “Expats” (Prime Video)
• Brian Tee — “Expats” (Prime Video)
• John Cena — “Ricky Stanicky” (Prime Video)
• Clifton Collins Jr — “Red, White & Royal Blue” (Prime Video)
• Stephen Fry — “Red, White & Royal Blue” (Prime Video)
• Wayne Knight — “Them” (Prime Video)
• Jelani Alladin — “Fellow Travelers” (Showtime)
• Jonathan Bailey — “Fellow Travelers” (Showtime)
• Noah J. Ricketts — “Fellow Travelers” (Showtime)
• Linus Roache — “Fellow Travelers” (Showtime)
• Dermot Mulroney — “Ghosts of Beirut” (Showtime)
• Simon Russell Beale — “Mary & George” (Starz)
• Tony Curran — “Mary & George” (Starz)

More Information (Supporting Actor, Limited/TV Movie)

2023 category winner : Paul Walter Hauser — “Black Bird” (Apple TV+)

2024 Emmy Awards Calendar and Timeline (all dates are subject to change)

• Eligibility period: June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024
• Feb. 29: Submissions open
• May 9: Deadline for programs that identify as Primetime programming to upload all entry materials.
• June 13: Nominations-round voting begins
• June 24: Nominations-round voting ends at 10:00 p.m. PT
• June 28 – July 8: Voting for peer group-specific top ten rounds panels (if applicable)
• July 17: Primetime Emmy nominations are announced.
• July 24: Deadline for errors and omissions to the nominations.
• August 5: Find-round videos available for viewing.
• August 15: Final-round voting begins.
• August 26: Final-round voting ends at 10:00 p.m. PST.
• Sept. 7-8: Creative Arts Emmy Awards and Governors Gala
• Sunday, Sept. 15: 76th Primetime Emmy Awards to air on ABC.

Emmy Awards Predictions

Other awards predictions, about the primetime emmy awards.

The Primetime Emmy Awards, commonly known as the Emmys, are awarded by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). Established in 1949, these celebrate outstanding achievements in American primetime television. The Emmys are categorized into three divisions: the Primetime Emmy Awards for performance and production excellence, the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards recognizing achievements in artistry and craftsmanship, and the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards, which honor significant engineering and technological advancements. The eligibility period typically extends from June 1 to May 31 each year. The Television Academy, which hosts the Emmys, consists of over 20,000 members across 30 professional peer groups, including performers, directors, producers, art directors, artisans and executives.

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Apple nabs taffy brodesser-akner’s ‘fleishman is in trouble’ followup ‘long island compromise’ for series development, apple studios unveils participants for its inaugural episodic directors program.

By Denise Petski

Denise Petski

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EXCLUSIVE: Apple Studios has announced the three participants selected for its inaugural Directors Program, described as an inclusive, new initiative focused on expanding opportunities for mid-career directors across the U.S.

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Successful participants will be positioned to direct content for Apple TV+.

Television projects hailing from Apple Studios include Masters of the Air from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone; Lessons in Chemistry, based on the bestselling book and starring Oscar winner Brie Larson; Manhunt , from Monica Beletsky; and comedy Palm Royale, led by Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern and Carol Burnett. 

Upcoming series include Firebug, from creator Dennis Lehane, starring and executive produced by Taron Egerton; and drama Your Friends and Neighbors, starring and executive produced by Jon Hamm.

The inaugural Apple Studios Directors Program participants are as follows: Descriptions provided by Apple.

Maureen Bharoocha  

While she thrives on finding the funny in whatever scene she’s directing, Maureen is equally adept at eliciting powerful dramatic performances. Raised in a half Irish Catholic and half Indian Pakistani Burmese Muslim household, Maureen focuses on stories about conflicted characters and is a master at straddling opposing worlds and blending genres. She inspires everyone around her with her motto: Make Cool Shit! Maureen Bharoocha is represented by Ellen Jones at CAA and Merideth Bajana and Delaney Morris at Grandview.

Yoko Okumura

Yoko Okumura (she/her) is a genre-fluid writer and director who thrives in the intersection of grit and glamour. Born in a Buddhist temple in Japan and raised in the frostbite of Minneapolis, she is obsessed with telling rebellious stories through underrepresented perspectives. 

She directed the feature thriller “Unseen” for Blumhouse/Paramount, and her episode “Ball of Twine” for Sam Raimi’s horror anthology “50 States of Fright” is streaming as a Roku Original. Yoko has also directed numerous one-hour episodes of television, including “Good Trouble” and “The Bold Type.”

She is a sponsored director under the Women In Film + Sundance ReFrame Rise Program, and has participated in top directing initiatives such as the Warner Bros. Directing Workshop, Ryan Murphy Half Initiative, and the Fox Directing Program. Her films have won numerous accolades including an Austin Film Festival Jury Award, DGA Award and a Webby. 

Yoko has a B.F.A. from CalArts and an M.F.A. from AFI, and lives and works in Los Angeles. When not on set, she can be found dabbling in fire dancing, as well as aerial arts, and she would love to learn how to do a backflip. Okumura is repped by CAA and Ronin Entertainment.

Marshall Tyler

Born in Philadelphia, but raised in Hawaii and San Diego, Marshall Tyler is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and television director. His episodic directing credits include “9-1-1” (Angela Bassett) for FOX, “City on a Hill” (Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge) for Showtime, “Leverage: Redemption” (Noah Wylie and Aldis Hodge) for Amazon, and the edgy, suspense-driven dark-comedy “Average Joe” (Deon Cole) for BET+/Paramount+. As a writer/director, Marshall’s short films “Night Shift,” “Cap” and “Slow Pulse” have gained critical acclaim premiering at film festivals like Sundance, the ABFF HBO Short Film Competition and Tribeca.  All three were Oscar-qualified after winning the Chicago, Urban World and Pan African film festivals, respectively, and have aired on HBO, CBS and BET.  

In addition to being selected for the Apple Studios Directors Program, Marshall is also a 2018-2020 alumni of the ABC Disney Television Directing Program, and is a 2018 fellow of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative. Through his company New Bumper & Paint, Marshall is currently developing his narrative feature debut, “Fever Dream” and has partnered with Vogue Studios/Condé Nast Entertainment for his upcoming feature documentary “The Prince of 7th Avenue” about the life of legendary designer Willi Smith and his iconic label-brand, WilliWear. Marshall is represented by Gersh and Pacific Artists Management. 

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