Unabomber Review
Director: Janus Metz
Date Created: 2026-09-26 20:41
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Unabomber Review: Directed by Janus Metz and written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves, the Netflix film stars Jacob Tremblay as Ted Kaczynski, Russell Crowe as psychology professor Henry Murray, Shailene Woodley as FBI Agent Joanne Miller, Annabelle Wallis as Christiana Morgan, and Alexander Ludwig as FBI Agent Leo Driver. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour 37 minutes.
Unabomber Review
Netflix’s Unabomber starts in 1958, where Ted, an outstanding young mathematics student at Harvard, has a dream to become a philosopher and change the world. His intelligence earns him recognition from Dr Henry Murray, who invites him to participate in what seems to be a discussion game. He does not realise that his participation in these sessions is part of an experiment funded by the CIA for studying human reaction in a highly stressful situation. It is in 1995 when FBI Agent Joanne Miller becomes certain about the incorrectness of the Unabomber’s profile and starts working on her own version of his identity.
Her efforts eventually lead her closer to Ted, while the film gradually establishes a connection between the tormented young scholar of the past and the reclusive one responsible for a series of murders. In the Netflix film Unabomber, Ted is not simply presented as an enigmatic criminal, and then the focus shifts to the investigation itself. It spends a lot of time illustrating who this man was before becoming the one who was feared by everybody. The first part of the movie becomes far more intriguing for me since I can see the way his personal life experience shaped him.
He is a highly intelligent individual; however, the problems with socialising and interacting with people make him vulnerable. His trust toward Henry and Christiana seems quite sincere. This is also why the experiment seems so disturbing. It is not just Ted’s mind that is being put to the test. He is being purposely humiliated under the guise of participating in something worthwhile. The point at which he realises that his own personal doubts and feelings have been recorded against him marks the point of his change of view toward Henry. I like the fact that the filmmakers did not allow this shift in attitude to happen immediately.
Ted keeps on coming to the classes, but now he knows how to deal with the situation. But Jacob Tremblay definitely steals the show. He has to portray Ted as a genius who is socially awkward, hurt, and suspicious. The fact is that his portrayal stands out especially well because the character changes a lot internally. There is no need to wait for the film to link Ted with the Unabomber to understand that the kid changes internally. Jacob gives this moment such importance that we can see a clear connection between the early and late Ted.
Crowe gives life to Henry Murray, although Ted was more convincing than him. Henry is very interesting since he thinks that through his research, he can find some important aspect of human behaviour; however, his passion for his theory turns out to be his flaw. Henry wants to be noticed, and his experiment becomes very personal for him rather than scientific. It is fascinating how the main theme of the movie, which is that destruction does not equal defeat, works in the case of Henry. Ted does not act like he expected him to act, and thus, their teacher-student relationship turns into something different.
What I liked about the Netflix Unabomber movie regarding Joanne Miller is that Shailene Woodley brings her resolve, but the FBI plotline does not make me feel as involved as Ted’s background. The revelation of how Ted’s education, family, and manifesto fit together is a crucial link that connects both timelines. On many occasions, however, I felt that the FBI plotline was just there for the purpose of getting somewhere with the plot.
That is when I begin to lose some of the effect that Netflix movie Unabomber provides. The content is really intriguing, but there are times when the way the film portrays it doesn’t measure up to the actual substance. There are sequences which could be really tense for the audience since they involve an FBI hunt, but these sequences don’t have the tension that I would expect from it. There are moments in which the film can actually add suspense for events revolving around Ted’s hideout and even ordinary encounters, but there are moments when it feels like they are just routine processes for the film’s denouement.
I feel as if there are too many concepts within the time frame of this film. In terms of plot, there is psychological manipulation, the morality of experimentation, advances in technology, industrialisation, Ted’s philosophy and the FBI investigations, to name a few. I found each concept fascinating in its own right; particularly technology and its impact on society. However, I find that some of these concepts have been raised and not properly explored.
Netflix Unabomber Review: Summing Up
Overall, the 2026 film Unabomber is an interesting story that lies behind the movie, and the portrayal by Jacob Tremblay makes it emotionally strong. I only regret that the storyline of the FBI investigation is not as compelling as that of the psychological drama and that the film could provide enough room for the most powerful ideas it suggests. All in all, it is a decent movie worth discussing, although it fails to become a great crime thriller.
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