Jacob Tremblay Takes on Ted Kaczynski in Netflix’s New ‘Unabomber’ Drama

Netflix just dropped the first look at ‘Unabomber’, an upcoming psychological drama that casts Jacob Tremblay as Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist who carried out a nearly two-decade-long mail-bombing campaign. The film traces Kaczynski’s journey from a brilliant Harvard student to one of America’s most infamous criminals.

Director Janus Metz helms the project, which was written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves. The drama arrives on Netflix on September 25, 2026.

In the trailer, Tremblay appears as a younger Kaczynski during his college years, grappling with the intellectual and emotional conflicts that would define his formative years. Rather than simply depicting his crimes, the film digs into what came before the experiences that set him on a dark path.

Kaczynski was a math prodigy who started at Harvard while still in his teens. Much of the story centers on his time there and his participation in psychological experiments conducted by Harvard professor Henry Murray, played by Russell Crowe.

Tremblay, who gained recognition for his powerful work in ‘Room’, saw this role as a chance to stretch himself with a character vastly different from his previous choices. The actor has said the project attracted him because it offered more mature and emotionally complex material.

Russell Crowe rounds out the cast as Dr. Henry Murray, the controversial Harvard psychologist whose experiments on the young Kaczynski play a central role in the narrative.

The film dramatizes the psychological tests Kaczynski endured as a student and examines their potential impact on his later life. However, it doesn’t frame these experiments as a simple explanation for the violence he would eventually commit.

Annabelle Wallis also stars as Christiana Morgan, who becomes entangled in Murray’s work and Kaczynski’s story.

The story unfolds across two timelines. One follows young Kaczynski during his formative years, while the other tracks the FBI investigation that ultimately led to his capture.

Shailene Woodley plays Joanne Miller, a fictional FBI agent pursuing Kaczynski during the manhunt. This investigative thread contrasts sharply with his earlier years, illustrating how a promising young mind became one of modern America’s most notorious criminals.

Netflix’s film isn’t a typical crime thriller. Instead, it functions as a psychological portrait of Kaczynski’s evolution his growing isolation, intellectual development, and increasing alienation while also following the investigation into his crimes.

Over nearly 20 years, Kaczynski’s bombing campaign killed three people and injured 23 others. Netflix describes the film as an exploration of the man behind those attacks and the events that shaped his trajectory.

The trailer emphasizes this contrast between the gifted Harvard student and the criminal mastermind he became.

‘Unabomber’ hits Netflix on September 25, 2026. The ensemble cast includes Jacob Tremblay, Russell Crowe, Shailene Woodley, and Annabelle Wallis, with Janus Metz directing from a script by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves.

With its deep dive into Kaczynski’s early life, the controversial experiments that shaped him, and the FBI investigation that brought him down, Unabomber is shaping up to be one of Netflix’s most thought-provoking true-crime dramas next year.