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Did the ‘Unabomber’ kill anyone? Everything we know about Russell Crowe’s Netflix thriller

Netflix’s 'Unabomber' revisits the story of Ted Kaczynski played by Jacob Tremblay and Russell Crowe as Harvard psychologist Henry Murray.

Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised

Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, killed 3 people and injured 23 others during a mail bombing campaign that lasted from 1978 to 1995. His story is now getting the Netflix adaptation of ‘Unabomber.’ The upcoming thriller looks at two key periods of Kaczynski’s life. One follows his years as a young mathematics prodigy at Harvard. The other focuses on the FBI investigation that eventually led to his capture.

Jacob Tremblay plays the young Kaczynski. Russell Crowe plays Harvard psychologist Henry Murray, while Woodley plays FBI agent Joanne Miller, who leads the search for the criminal. This movie is about Kaczynski at the time when he was one of the most infamous domestic terrorists in the United States. At the age of 16, Kaczynski went to Harvard as an exceptionally talented mathematics student. There, he participated in some highly questionable psychological experiments conducted by Murray.

These experiments entailed participants expressing their beliefs and aspirations, followed by ruthless criticism of what they had written. It seems that the movie is about Kaczynski's experience and possibly about his involvement in it. However, Kaczynski claimed that the Harvard experiments did not significantly affect his life. The question of whether those experiences played a role in his eventual transformation remains a subject of debate.

Director Janus Metz has described ‘Unabomber’ as a story about both “the making of the Unabomber” and “the capture of the Unabomber.” The movie cuts between Kaczynski's younger years and the FBI's long search for him. Tremblay has also said that he did not want to portray Kaczynski as a caricature. Instead, he approached the role by focusing on the person behind the infamous name and on his sense of isolation while growing up among older people. 

Along with Tremblay, Crowe, and Woodley, the cast includes Annabelle Wallis as Christiana Morgan, Henry Murray's academic partner and the co-director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic. Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg, and Marc Menchaca also star. ‘Unabomber’ is directed by Metz, known for 'Borg vs McEnroe' and ‘All the Old Knives’.

The screenplay comes from Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves. Kaczynski's bombing campaign killed three people and injured 23 others. Instead, the film goes back to the years before he became the Unabomber and follows the investigation that finally brought his bombing campaign to an end. ‘Unabomber’ premieres on Netflix on September 25, 2026.