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Netflix unveils first look at new thriller Unabomber starring Room star and former child actor Jacob Tremblay

The new thriller follows the real life events of American terrorist, the Unabomber.

A close up shot of Jacob Tremblay as the Unabomber. He looks ahead with a concerned looks whilst having censors connected to his head.

Netflix

Published: Friday, 28 August 2026 at 12:24 pm

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Netflix has dropped a first-look trailer for its new thriller Unabomber starring Room child star Jacob Tremblay.

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Unabomber follows the life of Ted Kaczynski, played by Tremblay, from his life as a 16-year-old Harvard University student and test subject to domestic terrorist, dubbed the Unabomber.

Kaczynski was a child maths prodigy but abandoned his career in academia in favour of living a reclusive, primitive lifestyle, living in a cabin in the woods.

Whilst a student at Harvard he had been subjected to controversial psychological experiments by Professor Henry Murray, played by Russell Crowe in the film, the details of which did not come to light until decades later.

Kaczynski later murdered three people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995 in a nationwide mail bombing campaign. He received multiple consecutive life sentences and later died in 2023.

Unabomber also stars Shailene Woodley as FBI agent Joanne Miller who eventually brings Kaczynski to justice.

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The nearly three-minute long trailer begins with short clips of one of Kaczynski's victims receiving a package in the mail which detonates inside his house when opened.

Viewers then see their first shot of Woodley as Agent Miller, speaking to colleagues: "The Unabomber wrote a 35,000 word manifesto without one grammatical error. This is something bigger. What mind could have done this?"

We then jump back in time to 16-year-old Kaczynski at Harvard and see his first unfortunate meeting with Crowe's Professor Murray who tells the young student he is "special" and the "perfect candidate" for his experiments.

The trailer concludes with erratic shots of Tremblay playing Kaczynski as he turns from boy to the Unabomber.

The viewer is left with the summary: "To understand the longest manhunt in US history, you must understand the mind behind it."

Directed by Janus Metz and written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves, Unabomber also stars Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg and Marc Menchaca.

Unabomber is coming to Netflix on Friday 25 September. You can sign up to Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky TV and Virgin Media.

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Authors

Phoebe Kowhai BarnesFreelance Writer

Phoebe Kowhai Barnes is a Freelance Writer who covers pop culture and entertainment programmes for the Radio Times. She previously worked as the Senior Assistant Editor at The Tab where she managed its local department. She obtained a BA (Hons) in English Literature from University of Nottingham.

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