User Reviews

The work would benefit significantly from a clearer, more focused narrative direction. While it attempts to cover an impressive scope, the execution remains overly surface-level. Performances were good all round.

With his latest screen adaptation of the story behind the most expensive manhunt in American history, Janus Metz Pedersen has created a solid, engaging thriller. He employs two narrative timelines that are constantly interwoven: on the one hand, the final phase of the hunt for the perpetrator—which ultimately succeeds thanks to a tip-off from Ted Kaczynski’s brother—and on the other, the trajectory **** who transforms into a bomber and a murderer due to his increasingly radical views. The fact that genius and madness converge so closely in the person of Ted Kaczynski is likely linked to his exploitation as a young test subject in psychological experiments conducted by the intelligence services—an aspect also addressed in *Unabomber*. In my view, it is a fine adaptation of one of the most unusual criminal cases in American history.

This film takes a new approach to the backstory of Ted Kaczynski (played by Jacob Tremblay). While there’s a focus on the FBI’s search (driven by Shailene Woodley), it also posits that something happened when he was a 16-year-old Freshman at Harvard. He was part of psychological experiments (led by Russell Crowe) that may have shaped his worldview and mental stability. While the nationwide search is presented as a rather bland procedural, the college experience provides more interesting interactions. Tremblay, who you may remember as the little boy in “Room," creates another impressive performance, while Crowe uses his charismatic power as the mentor. Woodley plays it steely. While this film presents an interesting angle, other than the performances, it lacks much dramatic punch.

(Mauro Lanari) When TED Talks still had something explosive about them. A highly manipulated story: if only being a Luddite were enough, even if only to defeat the MKULTRA experiments.