A COMPLETE UNKNOWN received 8 nominations at the 2025 Academy Awards. The film was recognized for Best Picture, Best Director (James Mangold), Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Best Supporting Actor (Edward Norton), Best Supporting Actress (Monica Barbaro), Best Adapted Screenplay (Jay Cocks & James Mangold), Best Sound (Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco), Best Costume Design (Arianne Phillips). A COMPLETE UNKNOWN did not win any Oscars, making it one of the ceremony’s most notable snubs.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN received 4 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations in 2025. The film was recognized for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Monica Barbaro, Norbert Leo Butz, Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Dan Fogler, Will Harrison, Eriko Hatsune, Boyd Holbrook, Scoot McNairy, Big Bill Morganfield, Edward Norton), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Timothée Chalamet), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Edward Norton), and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Monica Barbaro). It won one SAG Award: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN received 3 Golden Globe nominations in 2025. The film was recognized for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Timothée Chalamet), and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Edward Norton). It did not win any Golden Globes.

New York, 1961. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music. A film by James Mangold, starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Eriko Hatsune, Big Bill Morganfield, Will Harrison, P.J. Byrne, Michael Chernus, Charlie Tahan, Eli Brown, and Scoot McNairy.

In 1961, a young Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) hitchhikes all the way from New Jersey to New York City, desperate to meet his hero Woody Guthrie. The thing is, Guthrie’s been hospitalized at Greystone, which Dylan just assumes is in New York. Only after arriving does he discover that Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital is actually back in New Jersey – the place he just left.

Woody Guthrie was a renowned American singer-songwriter and musician, often regarded as one of the most influential figures in American folk music. Guthrie wrote over 3,000 songs, though many were not recorded during his lifetime. His most famous song, “This Land Is Your Land,” has become an unofficial national anthem in the United States. Guthrie began showing symptoms of Huntington’s disease in the late 1940s but were initially misattributed to other conditions such as alcoholism and schizophrenia. Guthrie was definitively diagnosed with Huntington’s disease (a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive damage to brain cells, leading to physical, cognitive, and psychiatric problems) in the fall of 1952 by doctors at Brooklyn State Hospital. Despite the diagnosis, Guthrie did not fully accept it and continued to struggle with the disease’s progression, leading to his eventual hospitalization.

At the hospital, Dylan finally comes face-to-face with Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and Guthrie’s best friend Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Dylan awkwardly introduces himself, gushing about how his friends turned him onto Woody’s folk music and how blown away he was by the songs. He explains that when his friends mentioned Woody was sick in the hospital, he just had to hitchhike out to meet him, hoping to catch a spark from his hero.

Suffering from Huntington’s disease, Woody can’t speak anymore, just manages some gestures that Pete helps translate for Dylan. When they learn that Dylan writes and sings his own songs, Pete tells Dylan that Woody wants to hear something from him. Both are deeply impressed and moved by Song to Woody, an original piece Dylan wrote as a tribute to Woody.

With nowhere to stay for the night, Pete invites Dylan to his home, where Dylan meets Pete’s wife, Toshi (Eriko Hatsune), and their children, Danny (Riley Hashimoto), Tinya (Eloise Peyrot), and Mika (Maya Feldman). Recognizing Dylan’s potential, Pete promises to help him break into New York City’s folk music scene.

Pete Seeger was a renowned American folk musician, songwriter, and social activist. He was a key figure in the folk music revival of the mid-20th century, influencing musicians like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Some of his most famous songs, which became anthems for social justice and peace, include “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)”, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”, and “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.” Seeger was involved in the founding of the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, alongside George Wein and Albert Grossman.

Before her performance at Gerde’s Folk City, a music venue in the West Village of Manhattan in New York City, Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), already an established singer at the time, is approached by Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler). Albert expresses his interest in signing her to Columbia Records, but Joan declines, explaining that she already has a label and a manager.

Joan Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, and activist who rose to prominence during the 1960s folk music revival. Renowned for her clear soprano voice and dedication to social justice, she became a defining voice of the era. Her self-titled debut album, Joan Baez, released in 1960, was a commercial success and featured traditional folk songs. Among them was “House of the Rising Sun”, a traditional folk ballad that became one of her most iconic performances, highlighting her distinctive voice and timeless folk style.

After Joan Baez finishes her performance, Pete introduces Dylan at an open mic night attended by music industry executives and Albert Grossman. Dylan catches Joan’s eye while charming the audience with his unique style. Impressed, Grossman immediately offers to represent him. Though Joan had planned to leave after her set, something about Dylan’s original song makes her stay, drawn to both his music and presence.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Albert Grossman was a prominent American talent manager in the folk and rock music scenes. He managed notable artists such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Band, and Odetta. Grossman co-founded the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and owned several music clubs, including the Gate of Horn.

Dylan meets John Hammond (David Alan Basche), who signs him to Columbia Records and gets him working on his first album. But instead of letting Dylan record his own stuff, Hammond and the label push him to do mostly covers. They figure putting a fresh face on familiar folk songs would be an easier way to break into the scene than gambling on original material from some unknown kid.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

John Hammond was a pivotal figure in the music industry, renowned as a record producer, promoter, talent scout, and music critic. He was instrumental in discovering and promoting major artists such as Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. Hammond was a champion of racial integration in music, often bringing together black and white musicians in an era of segregation.

At a folk concert at Riverside Church in Manhattan, Dylan meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), a young woman whose sister Gena (Alaina Surgener) works for Alan Lomax (Norbert Leo Butz).

Alan Lomax was an American ethnomusicologist, folklorist, and musicologist. He is celebrated for his extensive field recordings of folk music across the United States and internationally, significantly contributing to the preservation of American cultural heritage. Lomax worked closely with his father, John A. Lomax, to collect thousands of songs for the Library of Congress, introducing artists like Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Muddy Waters to a broader audience.

He strikes up a conversation, offering her a peanut and charming her with stories about his time working at a carnival. The two quickly hit it off and begin a romantic relationship, with Dylan eventually moving into Sylvie’s apartment.

Dylan grows frustrated when his debut album fails to gain traction, especially in comparison to Joan Baez’s wildly successful Joan Baez in Concert LP, which was recorded during her 1962 tours and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The contrast between her sold-out success and his own struggles only adds to his mounting dissatisfaction.

Before taking off for a mandatory 12-week school trip to Rome, Sylvie gets into a heated argument with Dylan, frustrated that she still doesn’t really know who he is. She calls him out for hiding his past while she’s been an open book about her family and everything else. Dylan just shrugs it off, saying people basically invent their own past anyway – they remember what they want and conveniently forget the rest.

On the evening of 22 October 1962, President Kennedy goes on live TV about the Cuban Missile Crisis between the US and Soviets. Joan Baez freaks out, desperate to get out of New York, but can’t find a single cab. While wandering the streets, she happens to hear Dylan playing at the Gaslight Cafe. She’s pulled in by his voice and completely captivated by the lyrics to his new song “Masters of War.” Before long, the two start sleeping together, and their relationship quickly blends into an artistic partnership.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal event in the Cold War that occurred in October 1962. It was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The crisis began when the Soviet Union, led by Nikita Khrushchev, started constructing nuclear missile sites in Cuba to deter potential U.S. invasions and counter U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy. On 14 October 1962, U.S. U-2 spy planes detected these sites, prompting President John F. Kennedy to convene an emergency meeting with his advisors. Kennedy decided on a naval blockade, or “quarantine,” of Cuba to prevent further Soviet missile shipments, which he announced to the nation in a televised address on 22 October 1962.

Sylvie gets suspicious about Dylan and Joan when she hears Joan’s live cover of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” on the radio before Dylan’s second album is even out. Dylan brushes it off as Albert’s marketing strategy, pointing out that Joan was way more famous than him at the time – she’d even made the cover of Time Magazine in November 1962.

In 1963, Dylan heads out to California to visit Joan at her place in Carmel Valley, a quiet retreat where she does her creative work and where they continue their affair. They perform together at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival, doing a duet of “With God on Our Side” during Dylan’s set – his first big performance on the West Coast.

Following the release of Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, in May 1963, featuring a cover photo of him walking with his girlfriend. The public response is overwhelmingly positive.

It completely changes the trajectory of Dylan’s career, showing everyone he’s not just another folk singer but a serious songwriter with something to say. The album puts his songwriting talents front and center, catapulting him into national and international stardom.

Dylan is surprised when he gets a letter from Johnny Cash, one of the biggest country stars of the late ’50s. In it, Cash shares how much he loves The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, even calling it his most prized possession. Dylan writes back, and soon they’re regular pen pals, exchanging letters about their music, social circles, and the people in their respective genres. It’s the start of a friendship that would end up lasting nearly forty years.

Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor known for his deep, baritone voice and repertoire that spanned genres like country, rock and roll, blues, folk, and gospel. Cash’s early success came with hits like “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “Hey, Porter,” which established him as a major country artist by the late 1950s.

In 1964, Dylan and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) finally meet face-to-face at the Newport Folk Festival, where they’re both scheduled to perform their own sets along with Joan. Sylvie and her sister Gena show up to catch the performances too.

The Newport Folk Festival is an annual music festival held in Newport, Rhode Island, that focuses primarily on American folk music traditions. Founded in 1959 by George Wein, Albert Grossman, and several singer-songwriters, including Pete Seeger, the festival was initially conceived as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It aimed to showcase the diversity of folk music, from rural traditions to urban popular styles. Today, the festival remains a premier event in the folk music scene, attracting diverse audiences and artists from around the world.

During Dylan’s performance of his new song, The Times They Are a-Changin’, Sylvie is overcome with emotion and tears up, feeling deeply connected to the song’s powerful message of change. Things between her and Dylan have been rocky for a while, especially with his not-so-secret affair with Joan Baez all over the place, which had already pushed Sylvie to move out of their apartment. By 1965, Dylan and Sylvie have officially parted ways.

Dylan meets and becomes friends with Bobby Neuwirth (Will Harrison), who soon becomes his road manager and trusted confidant, often joining him on tours. Meanwhile, Dylan starts experimenting with electric instruments in the studio as he feels drawn to explore new musical directions and express himself more freely. Rock and roll’s energy has begun influencing him, and he wants to bring that power into his own work. Part of Dylan’s shift to electric is also his way of rebelling against the expectations of his folk audience – he’s determined to break down the artificial boundaries between folk and rock music.

Bobby Neuwirth was a multifaceted artist and a key figure in Bob Dylan’s inner circle during the 1960s. Neuwirth was known for his wit and his role in shaping Dylan’s hip, cynical image during his Greenwich Village days. Neuwirth also played a significant role in assembling the backing band for Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the mid-1970s. Beyond his association with Dylan, Neuwirth was a singer-songwriter and visual artist. He co-wrote Janis Joplin’s song “Mercedes Benz” and introduced her to Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”. Neuwirth released his own music, including the album 99 Monkeys, and was involved in various artistic projects throughout his life.

On 25 July 1965, Dylan shocks the Newport Folk Festival by defying the expectations of both the organizers, including Pete Seeger, and the audience. He takes the stage with his bandmates, performing electric versions of “Maggie’s Farm”, “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry”, and “Like a Rolling Stone.” The crowd, deeply rooted in the tradition of acoustic folk music and its celebration of authenticity and purity, reacts with boos, feeling betrayed by his departure from the festival’s ethos. After leaving the stage, Dylan decides to return and performs an acoustic song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” to appease the crowd.

One month after Newport, Bob Dylan released HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED. It topped the charts and is considered one of the most influential albums of all time.

Since 1965, Bob Dylan has released 55 albums and continues to tour the world. He is the only songwriter to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He did not attend the ceremony.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. The prize was announced by the Swedish Academy on 13 October 2016. Bob Dylan is the 12th Nobel laureate from the United States.

Directed by American filmmaker James Mangold and co-written with Jay Cocks, A Complete Unknown is a biographical drama based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! The film traces Bob Dylan’s rise to fame in the folk music scene, culminating in the explosive controversy surrounding his shift to electric instruments. Set against the cultural, political, and historical backdrop of the 1960s, the story builds toward Dylan’s groundbreaking performance at the Newport Folk Festival on 25 July 1965.

The film beautifully captures 1960s New York through Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s picturesque lens. It’s filled with Bob Dylan’s iconic songs, which, if you’re a die-hard Dylan fan, you’ll likely appreciate even more than casual viewers.

Timothée Chalamet delivers an impressive performance as the young Dylan, with surprisingly strong vocals that exceed expectations. Perhaps most unexpected is Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez – not only does she nail the performance, but her crystal-clear voice is so stunning that at times I found myself enjoying her vocals even more than Baez’s original recordings.

While the film looks wonderful and aims to give us a glimpse into Bob Dylan’s enigmatic life before fame, the narrative based on a book, doesn’t quite bring us closer to understanding the real Bob Dylan. His childhood and family are only vaguely touched on, leaving it unclear whether certain parts of his story are fabricated or rooted in truth. It’s a visually captivating journey, but it doesn’t dig deep enough to unravel the man behind the myth.

Furthermore, the film tends to portray Bob Dylan in an unrealistically clean image, presenting him as a humble and polite musician with a rebellious spirit but rarely showing his temper. He’s seen only smoking a lot of cigarettes, but in reality, Dylan has admitted to using various substances throughout his career, including heroin, amphetamines, LSD, psychedelics, marijuana, and alcohol. While his drug use was often tied to coping with the pressures of fame and grueling tour schedules rather than seeking creative inspiration, the film conveniently glosses over this aspect of his life. None of which can be definitively proven, of course.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 10 December 2024. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 25 December, by Searchlight Pictures.