Greetings again from the darkness. One of the most frightening things in existence is when mental illness blends with brilliance. Ted Kaczynski was a 16-year-old math prodigy at Harvard in 1958, and then arrested in 1996 after being identified as the Unabomber. His reign of terror covered 1978 through 1995, and his bombings were responsible for three murders and twenty-three injuries. The manhunt was the longest and most expensive in FBI history.
Director Janus Metz (ALL THE OLD KNIVES, 2022) works from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves, delivering a look at young Kaczynski and the FBI efforts to track him down with so few clues. In an interesting approach, Metz flip-flops the story between 1958 Harvard and the manhunt in the 90’s … opening with a New Jersey bombing in 1994 and moving to the release of the Manifesto a year later. It’s the Manifesto that breaks the case for the FBI, although it almost didn’t. The key agent involved here is Joanne Miller (Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS, 2011) as a behavioralist. When Kaczynski’s brother David (Matthew Kevin Anderson) relays to the feds that the writing style and terminology remind him of his brother, Joanne Miller shifts her focus.
The Harvard segments focus on Professor Henry Murray (Oscar winner Russell Crowe) and the mental stress project he runs with Christiana Morgan (Annabelle Wallis, THE MUMMY, 2017). At this age, Kaczynski is played exceptionally well by Jacob Tremblay (ROOM, 2015), who captures a young man who doesn’t really fit in socially, and believes he has a mentor and supporter in the Professor and his assistant. This segment shows what a quick mind Kaczynski possessed, while also letting us see just what led to extreme behavior later.
The FBI pieces fit together like a procedural, and in addition to Woodley, agents are portrayed by Alexander Ludwig (“Vikings”), Stephen Ogg (“The Walking Dead”), and Marc Menchaca (“Ozark”). We also see how luck and perseverance and instinct can play a role in such a broad investigation. The capture of Kaczynski at his remote and rustic cabin in Montana is reenacted here, as is at least one “wrong guy” moment from earlier. We see actual news clips from reports during this era, and at the film’s conclusion, audio recordings and photos of imprisoned Kaczynski are replayed. In 2020, a docuseries, “Unabomber: In His Own Words”, was released, and both projects capture the mental state of one who was a true danger to society. This film from Mr. Metz states that it’s based on a true story, however, I couldn’t find a reference to a female agent who was key to the case, and none are noted in the update prior to the closing credits. At this point, I’m not sure if this is creative license or protecting agent identities.
Premieres on Netflix on September 25, 2026
