Unabomber film debuts at number one on Netflix

The Netflix true-crime film ‘Unabomber’ has debuted at number one on the platform’s weekly English film chart, securing 16.4 million views and topping charts in more than 70 territories.

Starring Russell Crowe as Harvard professor Henry Murray, the film utilizes a dual-timeline narrative to explore the life of Ted Kaczynski. Jacob Tremblay portrays a young Kaczynski, focusing on his formative years and his participation in controversial, CIA-funded psychological experiments at Harvard. The film also follows the subsequent FBI investigation, featuring Shailene Woodley as a fictionalized FBI agent, Joanne Miller, who tracks the bomber and analyzes his manifesto.

While the film has achieved significant viewership, some analysts have described the initial numbers as modest for a global true-crime release. The narrative structure aims to provide insight into how academic trauma and psychological stress may have contributed to Kaczynski’s radicalization and his eventual 17-year bombing campaign.