“The Unknown” is Arthur Harari’s third directorial feature and is presented as an existential, supernatural body-swap horror with art-house leanings. The film stars Niels Schneider as David Zimmerman, a late-30s photographer who documents changes in his home town as part of a project inherited from his father. After being worn down and depressed, David attends a New Year’s Eve party and becomes alarmed when he sees Léa Seydoux’s character staring at him—someone he recognizes from a photograph he took months earlier.
Across reviews, the central premise involves David waking up in Seydoux’s body, which drives a tense, uncanny investigation into identity and personal transformation. The story is described as a noir-leaning mystery with disquieting, sometimes surreal moments, drawing comparisons to other unsettling genre films. Both the Guardian and Hollywood Reporter frame the film as blending horror elements with naturalistic drama, while also suggesting themes that can be read in relation to gender identity and the broader uncertainty of one’s body and self. All three sources describe the film as strange and difficult to categorize, with commentary on how it handles (or struggles with) its ending.
