MOVIE · Released
A Complete Unknown
A young Bob Dylan arrives in New York in 1961, finds an audience and begins making music that divides the folk singers who first supported him.
- Runtime
- 2h 21min
- Rating
- R
Who’s who in A Complete Unknown
Media
A Complete Unknown Review
Pixel Twelve score
Good
The singing makes Dylan’s early career easy to enjoy, even if you do not know his music. His relationships are less satisfying.
By Milo Cross
Overview
Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan during the years between his arrival in New York and the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Dylan meets the musicians Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, performs with Joan Baez and starts a relationship with Sylvie Russo. As his audience grows, his interest in electric rock music puts him at odds with people in the folk scene.
James Mangold directed this biographical musical drama and wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks. Edward Norton plays Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez and Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Russo. Boyd Holbrook appears as Johnny Cash, with Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie. This is a dramatized story, not a documentary or a complete account of Dylan’s life.
Searchlight Pictures released the film in U.S. theaters on December 25, 2024. It runs 141 minutes and is streaming on Hulu in the United States as of September 30, 2026. Availability in other countries may differ.
The U.S. MPA classification is R for language.
Read next
Related Stories
A Complete Unknown review: Chalamet is a convincing Bob Dylan
The singing makes Dylan’s early career easy to enjoy, even if you do not know his music. His relationships are less satisfying.
Community reviews
What readers think of A Complete Unknown.
Loading community reviews…