Netflix has unveiled the first look at its dark new thriller Unabomber, and viewers are already drawing comparisons to the streaming giant's smash hit Adolescence.
Jacob Tremblay, who shot to fame as a child opposite Brie Larson in Room, takes on perhaps his darkest role yet as a young Ted Kaczynski in the upcoming film, which charts his journey from a teenage Harvard prodigy to the notorious domestic terrorist known as the Unabomber.
The first trailer offers a glimpse at the psychological thriller ahead of its September 25 release, with Russell Crowe and Shailene Woodley also leading the star-studded cast.
A dark transformation
Tremblay portrays Kaczynski from the age of 16, when he entered Harvard University, as the film explores his troubled early adulthood and eventual radicalisation. Crowe stars as Harvard psychologist Professor Henry Murray, who subjected Kaczynski to controversial psychological experiments while he was a student.
Decades later, the film moves to the enormous FBI operation to identify and capture the Unabomber, with Woodley playing agent Joanne Miller as the investigation begins uncovering his past.
Kaczynski carried out a bombing campaign lasting almost two decades, sending and planting homemade explosive devices that killed three people and injured 23 others. He deliberately targeted people connected with technology and modern industrial society, while his identity remained unknown to investigators for years. The case ultimately became one of the longest and most notorious manhunts in FBI history before Kaczynski was arrested in 1996.
Viewer reactions and comparisons
Rather than concentrating solely on the investigation, however, Unabomber appears set to delve heavily into its central figure's psychology, exploring themes of isolation, obsession and radicalisation while examining the events of his earlier life. And it's Tremblay's performance in particular that has caught viewers' attention following the trailer's release.
One person wrote on X: 'Jacob Tremblay stepping into such a complex and challenging role 👀🔥 This one already looks intense. September 25 can't come soon enough!'
Another made a comparison to Owen Cooper's acclaimed performance in Netflix phenomenon Adolescence. 'Watching Jacob Tremblay tackle heavy psychological role in Unabomber reminds me of Owen Cooper in Adolescence,' they wrote. 'It's rare to see young actors handle this level of internal trauma without it feeling forced. Both have that unreal screen maturity.'
The comparison is certainly a lofty one after Cooper's performance as 13-year-old Jamie Miller became one of the biggest talking points of Adolescence when the British drama exploded onto Netflix in 2025. The four-part series followed a schoolboy accused of murdering a female classmate, with its tense third episode largely consisting of a conversation between Jamie and a psychologist. Cooper was just 15 when the series was filmed and went on to receive widespread acclaim for the emotionally demanding performance.
Tremblay, meanwhile, has been taking on heavyweight material since he was considerably younger. He was nine when Room was released in 2015, playing Jack, a young boy who has spent his entire life confined with his kidnapped mother before the pair escape. Now 19, his transformation into Kaczynski has also left some viewers confronting the considerably less serious horror of realising just how much time has passed.
'Jacob Tremblay playing WHO?! 😭 It feels like just yesterday he was a little kid in Room. I am officially old,' one person joked.
Others were more cautious about Netflix dramatising the life of a real terrorist, with one viewer predicting: 'This could either be brilliant or incredibly controversial. No middle ground.'
Cast and production
Another described the film as 'a chilling true-crime story exploring isolation, radicalization, obsession, and one of the longest manhunts in FBI history.'
The subject matter inevitably gives Unabomber a difficult line to walk, particularly as it explores Kaczynski's experiences with Murray's experiments alongside the violence he would later commit. Tremblay won't be carrying that weight alone, with the cast also featuring Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg and Marc Menchaca.
The film is directed by Janus Metz from a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves, with Sophie Cassidy producing for 2.0 Entertainment.
