10 Worst Movies Of 2019 (So Far)

6. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile

Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil And Vile Zac Efron
COTA Films

There was a noble goal at the heart of Extremely Wicked: to tell the tale of Ted Bundy not in a way that glorified or revelled in his murderous actions, but presented them from the unknowing perspective of his girlfriend. It could have made for an extremely unconventional thriller, digging into the psychology of someone under Bundy’s spell (as so many people were for a time) and exploring how the perception of him clashed with the horrific reality.

Sadly, while that was the initial premise, it must have gotten swept away the minute the filmmakers realised that stupid, sexy, serial killer Zac Efron was by far the most interesting thing about the film. The actor breaks type really well here, and delivers a genuinely intense performance, but it’s not supported by a strong script, or any real cohesive focus to give it life.

He gets his moments, but the rest of the film is so pedestrian, in its writing, acting and visual style, that it’s easy to get bored and for his performance to get lost in a murky sea of nothing. It's the wasted potential that's so egregious, but there's also outright poor filmmaking on display, especially in how Kaya Scodelario's character is handled.

As it stands, Extremely Wicked, lives up to all of the adjectives in its title, but for all the wrong reasons.

[JB]

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.