Ted K

With all the revolutionary material written by Kaczinski himself, it’s disappointing that the movie focusses on Ted as a lonely broke incel – instead of a harbinger of the planet’s current technological and environmental apocalypse who just chose the wrong delivery method for his message. Copley is committed to the part, but it’s a lot of sweating and grunting for a film that has no perspective to tell this story. The narrative chooses monologues and montages, when there are plenty of scenes from Ted K’s actual life which would make great dialogues full of conflict. Lots of ambient music and spectacular nature photography can’t mask the picture’s hollow core. Ironically, it’s that kind of sonorous movie that makes you want to look at your phone.

The Unabomber story is interesting enough, but it could take a simplistic or throwaway approach if the script and direction were poor. Fortunately that is not the case with Ted K, which may not be anything spectacular, but it is supported by good directorial work and of course the excellent and committed performance of Sharlto Copley, which I believe without hesitation to be the best performance of his entire career.