Timothée Chalamet’s already had quite a year, with Dune: Part Two hitting the 2024 movie calendar in March, and next up for him is the highly anticipated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. The highly sought-after actor will star as the singer/songwriter who came to fame in the 1960s when the film is released to theaters on Christmas Day. The trailer appears to show that Chalamet has affected a spot-on impression of Dylan, and after critics were able to catch an early viewing, they were quick to share their own opinions of A Complete Unknown.
It’s promising that despite the movie not being out yet, it’s already drawing acclaim. A Complete Unknown was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama when the 2025 Golden Globe nominees were announced (the awards will air on CBS and live with a Paramount+ subscription on January 5), with Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton also singled out for their performances. Tomris Laffly of AV Club gives the film an A-, praising both Chalamet and director James Mangold for crafting a brainy but accessible story, energetically told. The critic continues:
While Chalamet is blessed with the right hair, somehow actually sings like Dylan—really, he sings and talks like him, with that raspy slur and nasal nonchalance—and nails his one-of-a-kind intonation, this is no traditional biopic performance where an actor disappears into the role. Instead, Chalamet goes to a place several octaves deeper. His performance is both startlingly accurate, and something playfully off-kilter and of his own, as a young artist himself shot to stardom so rapidly that he almost yearns to reactivate those freewheeling and melancholic Miss Stevens and Call Me By Your Name muscles.
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com admits to having some skepticism about the movie, but just as Bob Dylan has done so many times in his career, A Complete Unknown exceeded the critic's expectations. Tallerico gives it 3.5 out of 4 stars and says:
Mangold’s approach demands a great deal of Mr. Chalamet, and he nails it. Not only does he sound like Dylan when he’s singing, he somehow captures the newness of these moments. When he plays ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ for the first time in a great scene, it’s a song that a lot of people in the movie audience know by heart. Still, Chalamet and the production somehow convey the immediacy of that moment at Newport when these people are hearing a masterpiece for the first time. It gives the film an electricity that biopics almost always lack, feeling urgent instead of merely like a jukebox that’s been played a hundred times.
Brian Truitt of USA TODAY is equally as taken by Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, also rating it 3.5 out of 4 stars. Truitt says A Complete Unknown separates itself from other biopics by being an entertaining and magnetic watch. Chalamet’s portrayal feels refreshingly authentic as opposed to annoyingly imitative, the critic says:
A Complete Unknown is that rare biopic that leaves you wanting to watch it again and go on a Spotify deep dive, and you're apt to find new respect both for Dylan as a bluesy contrarian and Chalamet as a top-shelf thespian of his generation.
Pete Hammond of Deadline says the lead actor “astonishes” as the iconic singer, and James Mangold adds even more for an overall first-rate film. The music alone is worth the price of admission. Hammond writes:
At the center of this all is a remarkable performance by Chalamet, who performs all the songs himself in astonishing and authentic fashion. There is no lip-syncing or blending of voices between actor and subject. It is all Chalamet in the same way Walk the Line was all Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, and Coal Miner’s Daughter was all Sissy Spacek. Done the right way as it is here, it adds immeasurably to this film without turning into an imitation. Chalamet goes a long way to capture Dylan in every moment, with vocals that are jaw-dropping to behold; all the work he put into every aspect of capturing Dylan is evident.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN gives it a “Good” 7 out of 10, saying the director takes a deceptively straightforward approach to Bob Dylan and the movie works best when its subject is allowed to remain a mystery. Adlakha concludes:
Ford v Ferrari's James Mangold takes his hands off the steering wheel for A Complete Unknown, resulting in a Bob Dylan biopic that takes unpredictable turns. Rather than connecting the dots between how the world influenced him (and how he influenced it in turn), the film frames his enormous musical sea changes as personal drama for his peers. It’s formally straightforward, but its focus on the characters in Dylan’s life – rather than the musician himself, played by Timothée Chalamet – turn him into an enigma, for better or worse.
There’s already so much buzz surrounding this movie, and these assessments give a good idea of why. If you want to check out what all the fuss is about, A Complete Unknown will be in theaters starting Wednesday, December 25.
