Blu-Ray Review: No Man of God

Garon CockrellBlu-Ray Review, MoviesLeave a Comment

No Man of God
Written by: Kit Lesser
Directed By: Amber Sealey
Starring: Elijah Wood, Luke Kirby, Christian Clemenson, and Robert Patrick

From the box:

In 1980, Ted Bundy was sentenced to death by electrocution. In the years that followed, he agreed to disclose the details of his crimes, but only to one man. During the early days of the agency’s criminal profiling unit, FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier met with the incarcerated Ted Bundy in the hops of understanding the psychology of the serial killer and providing closure for the victims’ families. As Hagmaier delves into Bundy’s dark and twisted mind, a strange and complicated relationship develops that neither man expected. Based on actual transcripts of interviews between FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and the incarcerated Ted Bundy, No Man of God is “nothing shot of riveting. It is a must see.” (Reel News Daily.

Special Feature: Behind-The-Scenes featurette

Director Amber Sealey delivers a taut, riveting film with No Man of God with a spectacular performance at the center from Luke Kirby who plays the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. The story centers around the conversations between a criminal profiler, Bill Hagmaier, played wonderfully by Elijah Wood, and the prolific killer over the years before Bundy’s execution.
It’s not quite Silence of the Lambs, which might be the quickest comparison one might make. This film feels more like a dark drama than a thriller. It’s about Woods’ character struggling to understand Bundy, and struggling at times with his growing friendship with a murderer. It’s a bit of a “look into the abyss” situation and both actors give exceptional performances. Luke Kirby in particular is chilling and I feel like his performance should be considered amongst the best interpretations. There have been a lot of Ted Bundy related films, especially recently, and I can’t imagine any of them have a performance like this. Kirby doesn’t play Bundy like a monster, he plays him like a human being, and that is scarier than anything to be honest.

The film itself is great. It’s a slow burn (but flys by weirdly enough) and really well shot and written. The idea of Hagmaier flirting with the darkness that embodies Ted Bundy is really fascinating. It’s a great look into the mind of a profiler as well, a family man laughing with a serial killer. It’s really quite interesting to think about.
On the format, the film looks great and even though the majority of the film is set in an interview room, it really feels alive. Unfortunately, the release is short on special features with only a behind-the-scenes featurette. I would love to have seen some more on Bundy, and more on Kirby’s journey into the character.
Still though, the movie is for sure worth a watch. It’s excellent and deserves a large audience to see it. I’m excited to see what the filmmakers are going to deliver in the future because No Man of God is certainly top notch filmmaking.
No Man of God is available now. 
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