Film captures Dylan's magic but keeps him a mystery

James Mangold's A Complete Unknown tries to decode Bob Dylan's early years but leans into the enigma instead.

- Samarth Goyal

James Mangold's A Complete Unknown tries to decode Bob Dylan's early years but leans into the enigma instead. Timothée Chalamet fully commits—singing live, embodying Dylan's wiry unpredictability—but the film struggles to balance myth and man. It dazzles with nostalgia and music but keeps Dylan at arm's length, just as the title suggests.

Set in the smoky Greenwich Village of the early '60s, the film tracks Dylan's rise, his folk revival days, and the infamous Newport Folk Festival moment.