Jacob Tremblay Plays a Young Ted Kaczynski in Netflix’s Unabomber Trailer
The Canadian actor leads the film’s 1958 storyline, while a parallel 1994 investigation traces the FBI’s pursuit of the Unabomber.
Updated September 10, 2026
Jacob Tremblay as a young Ted Kaczynski in Netflix’s Unabomber. Credit: Philippe Bosse/Netflix.
Netflix has released the trailer for Unabomber, a new drama starring Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay as a young Ted Kaczynski during his Harvard years while a second timeline follows the FBI manhunt.
The film arrives on Netflix on September 25, 2026. Tremblay plays Kaczynski as a 16-year-old Harvard student. The parallel 1990s storyline follows Joanne Miller, a fictional FBI agent played by Shailene Woodley, while Russell Crowe plays Harvard psychologist Henry Murray.
The Trailer Connects Two Different Timelines
Netflix’s trailer opens with a mail bombing in 1994 before flashing back to Kaczynski’s years at Harvard. It later returns to the investigation into the Unabomber, creating a dual-timeline structure that connects Kaczynski’s early adulthood with the later manhunt.
Director Janus Metz works from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves. Netflix describes the film as inspired by true events, with Tremblay portraying the young Kaczynski and Woodley’s fictional FBI agent providing the investigative thread in the later timeline.
That distinction matters. Unabomber is a dramatized film rather than a documentary, and its interpretation of Kaczynski’s Harvard experiences should not be treated as proof of a direct cause-and-effect relationship with his later crimes.
Shailene Woodley plays FBI agent Joanne Miller in the film’s 1994 timeline. Credit: Philippe Bosse/Netflix.
Tremblay Takes on a Difficult Real-Life Role
Kaczynski’s bombing campaign began in 1978 and continued for 17 years. According to the FBI, his bombs killed three people and injured nearly two dozen others.
Investigators arrested Kaczynski at his cabin near Lincoln, Montana, on April 3, 1996. He pleaded guilty in January 1998 and was sentenced to life in federal prison.
The trailer focuses on Kaczynski’s younger years at Harvard and the later investigation. Crowe appears as Henry Murray, while Woodley’s fictional Joanne Miller leads the film’s FBI storyline.
Russell Crowe portrays Harvard psychologist Henry Murray. Credit: Philippe Bosse/Netflix.
What to Know Before the September Release
Unabomber arrives on Netflix on September 25. Netflix describes the film as a drama inspired by true events, so the movie should be understood as a dramatization rather than a complete historical account of the case.
For Tremblay, the role is part of a move into more mature material after becoming known as a child actor. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said he was drawn to the project partly because it was outside the kinds of roles audiences had previously associated with him.
