Timothée Chalamet's much anticipated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown debuts on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by James Mangold, and co-starring Ed Norton, Elle Fanning, and Scoot McNairy, the movie will release Christmas Day in the United States and has already generated significant Oscar buzz. It covers Dylan's career beginnings in 1961, up to his infamous 1965 gig at Newport Folk Festival where he controversially played for the first time with electric instruments. Chalamet plays the legendary singer-songwriter in A Complete Unknown.
The first reviews for the movie have landed on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and early signs look promising. According to the site, A Complete Unknown has scored an impressive 74% Rotten Tomatoes critic score from 62 reviews at the time of writing. This score could fluctuate as more reviews are added. Screen Rant's Mae Abdulbaki awarded the film a 6 out of 10, and a fresh rating. Despite the high score, it is actually fairly middling in Chalamet's strong filmography, ranking more towards the middle of his various projects.
What This Means For A Complete Unknown's Success
The Movie Could Enjoy a Strong Box Office & Awards Season
The strong debut rating for A Complete Unknown could improve as further reviews come in, and the Christmas Day release will see a boom in attention for the film. Chalamet's performance in particular has drawn positive attention, with some critics seeing his stand-out role as making up for other elements in the story. In her A Complete Unknown review, Abdulbaki stated that she "walked away from the film feeling distant from Bob Dylan. That seems to be by design but is no less frustrating from a storytelling point of view."
Chalamet Movie | Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
Lady Bird | 99% |
Call Me By Your Name | 95% |
Dune: Part Two | 92% |
Dune | 83% |
Bones and All | 82% |
A Complete Unknown | 74% |
Hostiles | 71% |
The King | 71% |
Beautiful Boy | 68% |
Don't Look Up | 56% |
A Rainy Day in New York | 47% |
Hot Summer Nights | 46% |
The Adderall Diaries | 26% |
Love the Coopers | 18% |
Her comments reveal that A Complete Unknown treats Dylan like the enigmatic force of nature he has always been revered as, which is certainly in keeping with the concept of a biopic about his career. However, it also shows why the critical response is not glowing. Biopics can be very difficult to do well, and whichever aspect of a star's life the film focuses on will invariably alienate certain sections of their fanbase. It seems that Chalamet's Dylan folk-tale is one that is focused on a man who pushed boundaries and made tough decisions, but never revealed too much of himself.
Our Take On A Complete Unknown's Critical Future
The Movie Looks A Shoo-In For Oscar Glory
A Complete Unknown is set for a theatrical run over the festive period, and this is bound to heighten its acclaim while generating considerable Oscar buzz. Chalamet seems like he's a firm favorite to be nominated for the 2025 Oscar for Best Actor, and should be buoyed by the fact that biopics tend to perform well in awards season. Whether hardcore Dylan aficionados will love the movie remains to be seen, but there seems to be cause for optimism, especially when A Complete Unknown is anchored by a potentially career-defining performance from Chalamet.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
A Complete Unknown is a biographical movie that follows a young Bob Dylan as he integrates with New York and catches the eye of the folk singers in the area, eventually propelling him into stardom.
Release Date December 25, 2024
Main Genre Biography
Character(s) Bob Dylan , Pete Seeger , Sylvie Russo , Joan Baez , Alan Lomax , Johnny Cash , Harold Levanthal , Woody Guthrie , Albert Grossman , Bob Neuwirth , Al Kooper , Stage Manager
Studio(s) Searchlight Pictures , The Picture Company , Automatik Entertainment
Distributor(s) Searchlight Pictures
English (US) ·