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The Unknown
Arthur Harari
New York Premiere
After an impulsive hookup, a Parisian photographer (Niels Schneider) finds that he has somehow swapped bodies with a German actress (Léa Seydoux). Arthur Harari treats this wild metaphysical gambit with the utmost sincerity in this uncanny supernatural drama.
- Runtime
- 141 min
- Country
- France
- Language
- French
- Year
- 2026
- More information
- Official film page
Screenings
One night, in a deserted backroom of a costume party, Parisian photographer David (Niels Schneider) impulsively hooks up with a stranger named Eva (Léa Seydoux); after their intense sexual encounter, David wakes up alone to find that he has somehow swapped bodies with the woman. This wild metaphysical gambit is treated with the utmost sincerity and unsettling realism in the confident hands of versatile filmmaker Arthur Harari, the Academy Award–winning cowriter of Anatomy of a Fall (NYFF61) and director of the sweeping historical drama Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (New Directors/New Films 2022). He takes the viewer on a series of leaps and turns as narratively absorbing as the scenario is metaphorically rich. Refusing to be read in any single or simple way, The Unknown pushes a pulpy supernatural premise into the realm of the genuinely uncanny, its tricky play with subjectivity and identification reinforced by the brilliantly embodied performances of its two leads. A NEON release.
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One night, in a deserted backroom of a costume party, Parisian photographer David (Niels Schneider) impulsively hooks up with a stranger named Eva (Léa Seydoux); after their intense sexual encounter, David wakes up alone to find that he has somehow swapped bodies with the woman. This wild metaphysical gambit is treated with the utmost sincerity and unsettling realism in the confident hands of versatile filmmaker Arthur Harari, the Academy Award–winning cowriter of Anatomy of a Fall (NYFF61) and director of the sweeping historical drama Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (New Directors/New Films 2022). He takes the viewer on a series of leaps and turns as narratively absorbing as the scenario is metaphorically rich. Refusing to be read in any single or simple way, The Unknown pushes a pulpy supernatural premise into the realm of the genuinely uncanny, its tricky play with subjectivity and identification reinforced by the brilliantly embodied performances of its two leads. A NEON release.
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