A Complete Unknown
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A 19-year-old musician from Minnesota shakes up the 1960s New York music scene.
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New York, early 1960s. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in the West Village with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music.
"A Complete Unknown is a biopic directed by James Mangold (Logan) about the legendary folk singer Bob Dylan (played by Timothée Chalamet, who received an Oscar nomination in 2025 for his performance in the film). The story covers Dylan's rise, from his arrival in New York and early successes in 1961, to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, all set against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. Mangold's film does a good job of establishing that context and Dylan’s fluctuation between the traditionalism of folk music, his political lyrics, and experimentation with sounds from other musical styles, along with the resulting controversies. However, in a similar vein to the questionable Bohemian Rhapsody, A Complete Unknown plays out more like it's in a hurry to check off a "grocery list" of crucial events in Dylan's life during that period, without diving deeper into them, the people in his life, or the protagonist himself. The performances are good, the musical covers are solid, but if you don’t know much about Bob Dylan, this biopic won’t leave you with anything more than superficial knowledge."