Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: Season 1

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Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Ratings

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Ratings

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Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Now Playing: Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Season Details & Credits

Netflix | Season Premiere Date: January 24, 2019

Summary: The four-part documentary series from Joe Berlinger features previously unheard audio of interviews with serial killer while on death row in Florida.

Creator: Joe Berlinger

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series, News/Documentary, Documentary

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Season 1 Episodes

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Critic Reviews

Henrique DaMour

Jan 22, 2019

The result is haunting, underscoring the evil you feel emanating from your screen that sticks to your bones. [25 Jan 2019, p.47]

Aja Romano

Jan 25, 2019

Berlinger arguably could have kept much of the documentary’s archival source material, with its heavy emphasis on Bundy, while reframing the killer’s story as one about the women whose lives he cut short. Instead, he produced a perfectly serviceable Conversations that adds little to the conversation at all. Read full review

Katie Rife

Jan 23, 2019

Ethical questions aside, the series’ dependence on Ted Bundy to tell the truth about Ted Bundy means that it doesn’t really bring much new information to the table. Read full review

Matt Zoller Seitz

Jan 31, 2019

Despite the editors’ superb interweaving of personal photos, police evidence, and archival footage of ’70s Seattle, Conversations with a Killer seems largely unaware of its own obliviousness. Just because the series, like Michaud, can’t get to the center of Bundy doesn’t mean that the only potentially interesting storytelling avenue has been obstructed, and therefore there’s nothing a filmmaker can do but say, “People are ultimately unknowable, and Bundy is no exception.” Read full review

The Telegraph Helen Brown

Jan 3, 2020

Winding up with well-worn footage of Bundy’s trial and execution, this docuseries contains nothing that true crime fans haven’t heard before. Read full review

The Guardian Lucy Mangan

Dec 4, 2019

There are no narrative twists awaiting us here. No miscarriages of justice straining to be heard. No insights into the complexities of an unfolding case or scandal of corrupt policemen, judges, clergy or politicians. The tapes themselves are the USP here. ... The only truly chilling thing about Conversations With a Killer was how unchilling it was. Read full review

Daniel D'Addario

Jan 18, 2019

Bundy is at best an unpleasant companion through four long episodes, and at worst repellent--makes Conversations With a Killer a must only for true-crime completists. ... For the uninitiated, though, the film takes the form of the banal audio footage at its core. ... [Director Joe Berlinger] never proves why Bundy matters as anything other than a case study in narcissism. Read full review

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kman5473

Feb 7, 2019

It took me two viewings of this series back to back before I could understand what this adds to the conversation and study of serial killers, psychopaths, and of course Ted Bundy. What is so haunting, and what really creeped me out the first time I watched this, is the fact that this showIt took me two viewings of this series back to back before I could understand what this adds to the conversation and study of serial killers, psychopaths, and of course Ted Bundy. What is so haunting, and what really creeped me out the first time I watched this, is the fact that this show feels almost tame and without as intense of focus on the depravity and sadistic violence of the killer and instead chooses an angle that strongly allows for Bundy to maintain his narrative. I remember finishing this the first time and thinking, "I realize objectively that he is one of the worst serial killers of modern history, but I can't tell if I think he's actually a terrible guy." And it's because this series is able to tell its story with his social performance of charm and charisma at the front.
Upon the second viewing was when the point really stuck: that's just how intensely powerful superficial behaviors are for most when determining the social merit of a person. It's easy to think when reading a history book about these individuals, "How come nobody could tell? It must have just been a continuous oversight that could have been rectified simply."
Then of course, the analysis of the trial was completely fascinating to me. I think in general, American and British media alike tend to force a narrative about serial killers comparing them and perceiving them as if they are all Hannibal Lector--psycho genius with superior, emotionless intellect without any weaknesses. American celebrate psychopaths for being free of emotion, and they are elevated into being super villains. This documentary breaks that mold though, and it's so important! We see in the trial how Ted Bundy's psychopathy is not his greatest strength, it's an incredible weakness. He is a danger to himself and to others. Why? He is incapable of being emotionally vulnerable with anyone, including himself. He can't admit to his shortcomings, not his real shortcomings, and because of this we see how prevalent this dysfunction is and how much it hinders his ability to 1) defend himself productively, 2) let others defend himself, 3) retain an actual, emotional and feeling connection with humanity.
This docu-series made me realize that psychopaths have a lot more in common with regular people, but with no way to rectify and satisfy and truly address their own emotional needs. They still feel the same feelings of emptiness, meaninglessness, melancholy, and go through accepting how tiny they are compared with the rest of the world. The problem is that, with the psychopathy disorder, their response to dealing with these feelings is by denial, being the ultimate forms of selfish, and trying to fill themselves up with superficial purpose (namely, killing others and becoming "famous" and "powerful" in doing so). From this, I finally saw and could understand: psychopathy is, in fact, the ultimate personified form of personal trauma; the individual is forever locked in their disability of confronting their weaknesses and growing and moving on. Not that it justifies serial murders.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Xbluannax

Nov 20, 2021

I’ve seen a few different documentaries about ted bundy and this was the most effective which had his own tape recordings of all the interviews he did. I have also read the book which was mentioned.