Russell Crowe Can't Save Netflix's Forgettable 'Unabomber'

Netflix dropped Unabomber on September 25th, and apparently the streaming giant decided that one of the most fascinating criminal cases in American history deserved to be flattened into a completely forgettable slog. Jacob Tremblay, who was heartbreaking as the kid in Wonder, plays a young Ted Kaczynski—a 180-degree pivot that’s somehow the least ironic thing about this whole endeavor. Russell Crowe shows up as Professor Henry Murray and occasionally reminds you that he’s a good actor, but that’s basically it. Shailene Woodley plays an FBI agent who doesn’t really exist, and the whole thing clocks in at 97 minutes that feel like three hours. The internet’s response has been unanimous: we’ve been tricked by Netflix again.

The critics have absolutely sharpened their knives, and honestly, they’re right. The film currently sits at a miserable 27% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, while audiences give it a slightly more generous 49%—which is still basically saying “this isn’t completely terrible.” Critics agreed the film was painfully flat and fundamentally missed what makes this story actually compelling—it’s all setup, no payoff. The only saving grace? Crowe is “fascinating every moment he’s on-screen,” which is a nice sentiment that doesn’t save this disaster.

Here’s the thing that really grinds: this film had actual material to work with. Kaczynski’s story is legitimately fascinating—the psychological warfare, the paranoia, the actual federal manhunt—but instead of diving into that, the movie spends way too much time on his college years and his maybe possibly traumatized by experiments subplot. It completely omits his brother David (who had turned him in) which is a huge detail to just erase. And reminding you again about the composite FBI investigator who never existed, because why tell the real story when you can make stuff up? The opening literally has a gambling ad, which seems heavily ironic considering it’s a Unabomber movie. And the film barely addresses his three murders and other victims—it’s less interested in the actual crimes than in giving us sad backstory.

Tremblay’s performance is truly solid—Letterboxd reviewers noted his acting is “10000/100 so impressive,” and he deserves credit for trying to carry this thing. But even talented performances from Tremblay and Crowe can’t salvage a film that fundamentally doesn’t understand or care about the actual story it’s telling.

I sincerely wanted to like this movie, but by the time the credits rolled, I had forgotten most of it. Netflix is clearly in the business of farming forgettable biopics, and Unabomber is just the latest evidence that sometimes the most interesting stories deserve better than whatever this was. Skip it and watch Manhunt instead, which already told this story infinitely better.