Highlights
- Jacob Tremblay plays a young Ted Kaczynski in Netflix's new thriller.
- The film explores the controversial Harvard experiments that shaped part of his story.
- Russell Crowe plays the professor behind the psychological study.
- The trailer hints at a dark descent from gifted student to notorious criminal.
Netflix's upcoming thriller Unabomber explores the disturbing path from Kaczynski's early years to the FBI manhunt that eventually made him one of America's most infamous criminals. At the centre of the story is a controversial psychological experiment conducted while he was a student at Harvard.
The first trailer, released ahead of the film's September 25 debut, gives viewers a glimpse of how that experience is woven into the story, with Jacob Tremblay portraying the young Kaczynski and Russell Crowe playing Professor Henry Murray.
The experiment that left a disturbing mark
The film follows Kaczynski from his time as a 16-year-old Harvard student, where he becomes involved in psychological experiments conducted by Murray.
The trailer suggests that the experience will play a major role in understanding the character's later psychological decline. Rather than presenting Kaczynski's transformation as a simple explanation, the film appears interested in the darker consequences of ambition, isolation and psychological manipulation.
That makes the Harvard storyline one of the most unsettling elements of the film. The audience already knows where Kaczynski's story eventually leads, creating an uncomfortable question as the trailer moves between his student years and the man he would become.
Jacob Tremblay takes on Kaczynski
Tremblay plays Kaczynski across the film's journey, portraying a character whose life changes dramatically from his early academic years to the emergence of the Unabomber.
The actor is joined by Crowe, who plays Murray, the professor associated with the controversial experiment. Shailene Woodley stars as FBI agent Joanne Miller, who leads the pursuit of Kaczynski decades later.
The cast also includes Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg and Marc Menchaca.
Januz Metz directs the thriller from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves.
Netflix's chilling new fall thriller
The story moves between Kaczynski's past and the investigation that eventually led authorities to him.
The trailer gives the film a tense, psychological-thriller tone, with its central mystery built around how an exceptionally intelligent young man ended up becoming the target of one of the FBI's most notorious investigations.
Netflix is positioning Unabomber as one of its major fall releases, with the film arriving on September 25.
But its most intriguing element may be the question sitting underneath the entire story: how much can one disturbing experience explain about the man Kaczynski eventually became?
Unabomber does not simply revisit the crimes. It goes back to the beginning, exploring the experiences that came long before the name became synonymous with terror.
