UNABOMBER EXPLAINED

HARVARD PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR SHAPED DEADLY UNABOMBER

by PETER THOMAS BUSCH

A Harvard trained domestic terrorist that spread fear for two decades was the subject of psychological experiments.

Director Janus Metz runs two merging narratives in parallel, one telling the story of the past and a second in the present for the thriller, Unabomber (2026).

Metz explains the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, by visiting his academic career as a 16-year-old undergraduate studying mathematics, but more sincerely dabbling in philosophy and psychology at Harvard University.

Jacob Tremblay plays the deep thinker, well versed in classical philosophical writings, who struggles to fit in, even acknowledging his own awkwardness in social settings.

To explore his ideas in more depth, the young Kaczynski engages with his psychology professor, Henry Murray, played by Russell Crowe. Crowe creates the hubris of the academic, who knowingly has the power to shape the young empty minds of geniuses.

Those few years incrementally merge with the FBI investigation into the identity of the Unabomber just a few months before Kaczynski’s capture. Shailene Woodley plays FBI Agent Joann Miller, who becomes convinced that the Unabomber is Kaczynski, but she cannot convince the rest of the FBI Unabomber Task Force to spend more resources on the lead.

A score by Marco Beltrami accompanies many compelling scenes without dominating the narrative. The camera, after all, is focused on Tremblay, Crowe and Woodley, with tension being created with the uncertainty of which actor will take the lead and dominate the narrative.

Metz hints at three parallel narratives developing, at some points, but then shows his control of movie time by returning to the two main parallel narratives.

A darker tone of more historical pieces is used for the narrative occurring on the Harvard Campus in the past. Cinematographer Yves Belanger adjusts everything in the present to create a different tone and atmosphere for the context of a more contemporary setting for the FBI investigation.

Even when there seems to be three narratives emerging, Metz makes the scenes blend seamlessly. The camera has a bit of sophistication, but the direction lacks that extra creativity and experimentation of more experienced auteurs.

Tremblay shows how Kaczynski becomes the Unabomber out of competing feelings of betrayal and superiority. And Crowe makes up a new character in his repertoire, who is a kind of overachieving, under recognized academic whose hubris and sense of a greater personal destiny allows him to justify crossing ethical lines.

Woodley provides her dedicated policer character. And as a result, everything merges together when Kaczynski is caught in his hillbilly cabin in Montana.

Unabomber is streaming on Netflix.