Léa Seydoux Is Not Herself in the U.S. Trailer for Arthur Harari’s Controversial Cannes Premiere, The Unknown

      This year, few titles have generated such a peculiar reaction as Arthur Harari’s The Unknown. Following a premiere at Cannes that left us underwhelmed, another contributor claimed it's the film of the year. For many, the mere fact that Léa Seydoux grapples with profound existential dilemmas requires little persuasion, but it's nice to think one might leave with more than just a basic appreciation. With a domestic release from Neon approaching, the U.S. trailer has arrived.

      Savina Petkova expressed some skepticism about Harari’s vision in our Cannes review, stating, “The Unknown instead obscures pressing issues in conjectures, referring to the non-consensual body-swap simply as ‘the disease’—much like the film’s ambiguous title—and the ‘transmission’ occurs during a sex scene of almost notably mechanical nature, where achieving orgasm enables the swap. But if ‘the disease’ spreads through sexual contact, and the targeted encounters are so detached, instrumental, and entirely unappealing, what exactly is at stake? Is it a critique of casual sex or puritanism? It seems that The Unknown could more effectively explore this ambiguous state—between male and female, acceptance and rejection—as a graphic novel rather than as a film. While many bodies are categorized as binary, identities are not, and perhaps it’s time for cinema to depict body-swapping as an enjoyable experience, rather than a reprimand.”

      Here’s the synopsis: “David is a photographer in Paris. Somewhat of a recluse, he becomes intrigued by a young woman he meets during an assignment. That night, at a drug-induced party, David locks eyes with her from across the room and decides to follow her. By morning, he finds himself in the young woman’s body. From writer-director Arthur Harari, co-writer of the Academy Award-winning Anatomy of a Fall, comes a captivating and thought-provoking narrative about identity displacement — the tale of a man who stops being himself, only to transform into someone else… or perhaps no one at all.”

      Watch the trailer below: