No Man Of God — No Man Of God( Blu Ray)

No Man of God is a 2021 film that focuses on the relationship that was formed between serial killer Ted Bundy & FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier, in the final years of the killer's life on death row. And though the film is largely based around two men talking in a room, it’s totally compelling, often tense, at times surprisingly chilling and disturbing ride- with both the lead actors Luke Kirby as Bundy, and Elijah Wood as Hagmaier doing a startling great job, which surely should see them get some awards. Here from 101 Films is a new Blu Ray release of this recent film.

No Man of God is the fourth feature-length film from English born-now LA-based director/ actress Amber Sealey- whose past directorial credits take two-person drama film A Plus D (2008), trying to conceive comedy-drama How to Cheat (2011) and searching for estrange father drama No Light and No Land Anywhere (2016). And with No Man of God, she’s created a very authentic, troubling, and thought-provoking film, which looks deep into the darker and more manipulative side of humankind.
 
The film is set between 1985 and Bundy’s execution in January of 1989, after he’d been sat on Florida’s death row for eight years making one appeal after another. We first meet Bill Hagmaier (Wood), who is a mild-mannered, focused and committed FBI analyst /profiler. He’s sat in a room full of his colleagues, and they are being asked which serial killer they’d like to interview in a new series of profiling interviews. No one want’s Bundy, as he has a particular dislike of FBI agents, and either gives them the run around or flat out refuses to talk to them. Hagmaier volunteers to take on Bundy- with both his colleagues and later death row staff aghast at his proposal- but he gets an agreement from Bundy to do an initial interview.
 
The reveal of Bundy is done in a wonderful tensely anticipation manner, as we see nervy Hagmaie travelling to death row, going through security, then waiting for the killer to enter the room. When Bundy (Kirby) appears, his face is initially shown through cuffed hands or at odd angles, and this both nicely pulls in and lightly unsettles the watcher. The first interview starts off non too positive, as Bundy both spouts his dislike of the FBI, and doubts Hagmaie motives- but in time he excepts him. The film then plays out over a selection of interviews carried out between 1985, and the one just hours before Bundy is put to death. In-between the interviews/ interactions director Sealey uses cut-ups of every day 80’s footage, news coverage about the case, and snapshots of imagery relating to the pairs discussions/ Bundy’s crimes- this I guess is fairly arty, though never over-indulgent, and works well to break-up the interviews, and adds an extra bit of atmosphere to the proceedings.
 
Moving onto the acting, and as already mentioned this is very, very good- initially you are most impressed by Kirby, who chilling recreates the mannerisms of Bundy to a tee- and he shifts between being manipulative, charming, chilling, and downright terrifying. Wood’s performance as Hagmaier is much more low key/ subtle, but again he really mangers to portray the clearly highly focused and mild-mannered profiler very well, and along the way offers up some great/ highly believe moments of fear and anger. The surrounding small cast is also very good too, with mentions going to Robert Patrick as Hagmaier boss, and Aleksa Palladino as Bundy’s legal adviser, who appears in the last quarter of the film. No Man of God follows the trend of recent films like My Friend Dahmer, shying away from grisly portray of serial killers’ crimes, to instead focus inwards on their troubled, and in Budy’s case very clever and manipulative minds, 

Moving onto this Blu Ray release- and it comes presented in 'a rigid box' packaging, featuring newly commissioned artwork, a set of three art cards. On the disc we get a selection of three in-depth on-screen interviews- first is with Elijah Wood, this runs twenty-six minutes and sees him going right back to discuss how he first got connected with the project five or so years back, how it developed, and how he came to play the role of Hagmaier. Next, we get a thirty-nine-minute interview with Luke Kirby- here he discusses his initial uncertainties about the role, and how this changed after he met the films directed, and of course how he played the role of the killer. Lastly, we have a ten-minute interview with Aleksa Palladino, who played Bundy’s lawyer. All three are most interesting and well worth a play.
 

More often than not one expects to be disappointed/ let down by serial killer related pictures, as they either come off overly nasty and bloody with hammy acting, or they lack any edge, authenticity or true believability. No Man of God thankfully doesn’t fall into either category but is instead a wholly compelling film, which portrays Bundy as what he really was- a charming, highly manipulative, & very dangerous killer, who was fighting for his own life. Let’s hope there is some sense left in this world, and this film gets a bunch of awards- because it most certainly deserves them!.