UNABOMBER Is Now Netflix's Biggest Streaming Hit After September 25 Debut

Netflix has a new true-crime obsession. Director Janus Metz's Unabomber has overtaken all challengers to become the most-watched film on the platform since debuting Friday, September 25, 2026, according to a September 29 report — a remarkable ascent for a 100-minute R-rated thriller about one of America's most notorious criminals.

The film stars Jacob Tremblay as a young Ted Kaczynski, Russell Crowe as Professor Henry Murray, and Shailene Woodley as FBI agent Joanne Miller. Tremblay plays Kaczynski from a 16-year-old Harvard math prodigy through his transformation, and the film is billed as "inspired by true events" rather than a direct historical recreation — a framing that gives the filmmakers room to explore the psychology rather than just the rap sheet.

The Harvard Years

The film's most provocative thread is Kaczynski's time at Harvard. Crowe portrays psychology professor Henry Murray, whose controversial psychological experiments Kaczynski was subjected to as a student, and Annabelle Wallis plays Christiana Morgan. The movie moves between Kaczynski's formative years at Harvard and the FBI investigation into his bombing campaign, which killed 3 and injured 23 between 1978 and 1995.

Tremblay told Netflix he didn't know Kaczynski had attended Harvard until reading the script — and that he wanted to play him as a real person rather than a caricature. It's an approach that has clearly resonated: the performance is being singled out as the film's center of gravity.

The Investigation

Woodley told ComingSoon's Tyler Treese that her character, Joanne Miller, is an amalgamation of many detectives, with a background as a profiler and linguistics expert. The screenplay is by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves, and Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg, and Marc Menchaca round out the cast.

True crime remains Netflix's most reliable engine, and Unabomber is the latest proof. A dark subject, a prestige cast, and a director with a documentarian's eye for uncomfortable truth — it's a combination that has the entire platform talking.

Why It's Working

The speed of Unabomber's rise — most-watched film on the platform within days of a September 25 debut — speaks to how precisely Netflix understands its audience's true-crime appetite. But this isn't just another docuseries binge; it's a scripted, R-rated, 100-minute thriller from a serious director, and its success suggests viewers are hungry for the genre with cinematic craft behind it. The creative choices are doing real work: framing the story as "inspired by true events" rather than a historical recreation frees Metz to chase psychology over procedure, while the dual timeline — Harvard's halls and the FBI's hunt — gives the film both an origin story and a manhunt. Tremblay's approach, playing Kaczynski as a real person rather than a caricature, is the kind of performance decision that separates prestige true crime from exploitation. And Woodley's Joanne Miller — an amalgamation of many real detectives, built with a profiler's and linguistics expert's background — grounds the investigation in authenticity without chaining it to a single biography. With a screenplay by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves and a supporting cast including Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg, and Marc Menchaca, the film has the depth to sustain its moment. Netflix's top slot is fickle, but Unabomber earned its stay.