Critical popcorn

Like many a teenager, my gateway drug to Bob Dylan was his superb The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which remains my favourite of his (in a world that always leans towards Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks – also both excellent by the way), so this new film A Complete Unknown definitely stirs my poetically musical intrigue.

James Mangold‘s film, that he co-wrote with Jay Cocks based on Elijah Wald’s book Dylan Goes Electric!, takes us to the early 1960s, where Dylan has been rising to fame on the back of my aforementioned favourite, yet kicks off a mountain of controversy as he decides to switch to electrically amp-ed instruments at a time where the folk world, and critics, definitely aren’t expecting it.

A Complete Unknown also stars Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Eriko Hatsune, Big Bill Morgenfield, Will Harrison, and Scoot McNairy – Check out the trailer from Searchlight:

A Complete Unknown comes to UK and Irish cinemas from 17 January 2025