Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for Unabomber, giving audiences their first extended look at Jacob Tremblay as a young Ted Kaczynski in a drama inspired by true events. The film explores the years before Kaczynski became known as the Unabomber and will premiere on Netflix on September 25, 2026.
The trailer moves between two significant periods in Kaczynski’s life: his early years as a 16-year-old Harvard prodigy and the later FBI investigation to identify the man behind a long-running bombing campaign. Russell Crowe plays Harvard psychologist Professor Henry Murray, while Shailene Woodley stars as FBI agent Joanne Miller. Janus Metz directs the film from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves.
Rather than focusing solely on the manhunt, Unabomber looks back at Kaczynski’s younger years and the experiences surrounding this period of his life. The trailer introduces him as an exceptionally gifted teenager who enters Harvard at an unusually young age before becoming involved in psychological experiments connected to Murray.
Murray was a real psychologist, and his controversial experiments have remained a subject of discussion for decades. The film places the young Kaczynski and Murray at the centre of its Harvard storyline, exploring their connection while also moving forward to the FBI investigation years later.
The newly released footage provides a clearer sense of the film’s narrative structure. By connecting Kaczynski’s years as a student with the later effort to locate him, Unabomber examines both the young man before he became nationally known and the investigation that eventually led authorities to him.
For Jacob Tremblay, the role marks a significant departure from many of his previous performances. Best known for playing younger characters in films including Room and Good Boys, Tremblay now portrays a real-life figure whose name remains associated with one of the most notorious criminal cases in modern American history. The trailer suggests his performance will carry much of the film’s early story.
Russell Crowe plays Professor Henry Murray, placing his character at the centre of the Harvard chapters and the psychological experiments explored in the film. Shailene Woodley, meanwhile, brings the later investigation into focus as FBI agent Joanne Miller leads the search for the bomber.
The supporting cast includes Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg and Marc Menchaca. Together, the cast supports a story that combines Kaczynski’s early life with the later investigation, rather than presenting the case solely as a traditional crime thriller.
Janus Metz directs the film from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves. Given the subject matter, the filmmakers face the challenge of portraying a story based on real events without glamorising the violence associated with Kaczynski’s crimes. The trailer points towards an approach that examines different stages of his story rather than simply recreating the investigation.
Unabomber combines elements of a coming-of-age drama, psychological story and FBI investigation, using its two timelines to connect Kaczynski’s past with the eventual hunt for one of America’s most notorious criminals.
With Tremblay leading the cast, Crowe and Woodley anchoring the film’s two major storylines, and Metz behind the camera, the trailer introduces the central pieces of Netflix’s drama while leaving its larger questions unanswered. Audiences will see how those threads come together when Unabomber begins streaming on Netflix on September 25, 2026.
Watch Unabomber trailer:
Read More:
- Conclave: Faith and Power Collide Behind Closed Doors
- Stop-Motion Animation and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
- The Evolution of Indian Cinema: From Satyajit Ray to Anurag Kashyap
- How Cinema Helped Fight Racism: A Look at Films That Changed Society
- The Best World War 2 Films: A Cinematic Journey Through History
