Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Zac Efron’s 2019 is shaping up to be much like Matthew McConaughey’s 2013. In other words, he is forsaking mindless bromances in favour of more esoteric character studies. His rebranding begins with Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, in which he plays the 1970s mass murderer Ted Bundy (who will also be profiled in the director’s upcoming docuseries Conversations with a Killer). The film is focalised through his head-in-the-sand girlfriend Liz (Lily Collins), who refuses to accept the seriousness of Bundy’s heinous crimes. Still unconvinced that Efron is turning over a new leaf? Check out his drastic look for The Beach Bum, co-starring the aforementioned McConaughey, a dark comedy premiering at South by Southwest in March.