Netflix’s new crime drama “Unabomber,” starring Jacob Tremblay as Ted Kaczynski, is inspired by the mathematician’s 1978–95 bombing campaign, which killed three people and injured 23. His brother and sister-in-law helped investigators identify him after recognizing his writing.
Netflix describes the film as a drama “inspired by true events,” not a documentary. Kaczynski participated for about three years in psychological experiments led by Harvard professor Henry Murray, where student volunteers faced intense psychological pressure. His participation is documented, but no causal link to his later crimes has been established. Russell Crowe plays Murray, while Shailene Woodley’s FBI agent is fictional.
In 1995, Kaczynski demanded publication of his roughly 35,000-word essay attacking industrialization and technology, saying he would stop the attacks if a national publication printed it. The Washington Post published it that September after a joint decision with The New York Times; his brother David and sister-in-law Linda Patrik recognized similarities between the essay and his earlier writing. Kaczynski admitted carrying out 16 bombings, was arrested in April 1996, pleaded guilty in 1998 and received four life sentences plus 30 years. He died by suicide in 2023, aged 81.
