Terrific performances headline No Man of God, a psychological drama that explores the complex true-life friendship between a serial killer and an FBI profiler, delving into the evil that drove one of mankind’s most infamous monsters.

No Man of God is no way tries to make Ted Bundy a sympathetic creature. It would be a foolish endeavour to try and do so. Rather, this Amber Sealey (How to Cheat) directed true crime drama fortifies the complex nature of the famed serial killer: an intelligent, charming, evil narcissist who was able to lure you in the deep end before you realise the danger he imposes. Thirty (and possibly more) were murdered by Bundy, yet his superstar lore has possibly never been bigger and brighter, with No Man of God the latest film in a string of several films and documentarians to focus on a man who many believed personified evil. It is also the best so far.

Set in the late 1980s, No Man of God focuses on the last years of Bundy’s life as he awaits execution on death row. During this time rookie FBI profiler Bill Hagmaier (Elijah Wood) had numerous interviews with Bundy to understand what drove him to commit his crimes. Bundy (Luke Kirby), who had a known distaste for FBI agents, warmed up to Hagmaier, eventually calling him his “best friend” and confessing to numerous murders before his execution in 1989.

With such an intense connection between the two, needed were the actors to replicate that chemistry, and Luke Kirby and Elijah Wood do a tremendous job doing so. Kirby brilliantly straddles that line between charming and creepy as Bundy, always evoking a sense of danger that seeps through his pores, even in moments of fragility, that, dare it be said, humanised the man within the monster. Wood in turn portrays a moral man of honest, inquisitive nature, who seeks only to find the truth as to how evil can manifest itself in such brutal fashion.

Searcy captures it all with an intimacy that is engrossing and startling, tackling complex themes such as the nature of evil, the duality of man, and how a monster like Bundy can prosper within God’s creation. It all results in a serial killer movie void of exploitation and filled to the brim and smarts and depth.