Hollywood’s fascination surrounding Ted Bundy is reaching a point of exhaustion. The serial killer – who wasn’t actually good looking or the genius everyone’s making him out to be, so let’s chill out on the weird hero worship – has been the subject of countless documentaries; and most recently on the ,ore fictional side of things, Netflix’s biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, & Vile starring Zac Efron (which should been titled Extremely Lame, Shockingly Dull, & Not Worth Your Time). But before the cultural fatigue sets in for good, it may be worth making some time for one last attempt at turning 30 confirmed homicides into morbid entertainment with No Man Of God, starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby.
In 1980, Ted Bundy (portrayed by Luke Kirby; who is also doing old mate far too much credit in the looks department) was sentenced to death by electrocution. In the years that followed, he agreed to disclose the grim details of his crimes – but only to one man: FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier (portrayed by Elijah Wood). No Man Of God is based on the true story of the “strange and complicated relationship” between Agent Hagmaier and the incarcerated Bundy during the early days of the agency’s criminal profiling unit, leading up to the latter’s eventual execution.
“As Hagmaier delves into Bundy’s dark and twisted mind, a strange and complicated relationship develops that neither man expected.”
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By all accounts, this looks like it might be slightly more tasteful than the likes of the Zac Efron flick and most documentaries. Rather than depicting Bundy as nothing more than some charismatic dude with a silver tongue and Hollywood bone structure, we’ll delve into how his warped and uncomfortable psychology impacted the very people tasked with examining him. In fact, the film caused some friction around the time of its Tribeca premier – provoking Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes director Joe Berlinger to respond to criticism fired in his direction by No Man Of God director, Amber Sealey.
“Forgive the unsolicited advice,” Berlinger wrote in an email shared by Sealey via Instagram.
“But after reading some of your interviews about your Bundy movie, I feel compelled to tell you that tearing down my work to promote yours is a slippery slope and intellectually dishonest and deeply offensive. How did my film glorify Bundy?”
“Thanks for the support, Joe,” Sealey responded in the post’s caption.
“We have an extra ticket for you to the #NoManOfGod premiere if you’d like to see the movie for yourself and we can discuss more in person openly? [Because] this felt like you were just trying to make me feel shitty right before my screening. Have a great day.”
No Man Of God starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby will have a simultaneous release in theatres and via streaming on August 27th of 2021 – watch the first trailer above.
