FilmReview

Cannes First Look review: The Unknown – Léa Seydoux stars in Arthur Harari’s body-swap horror

Gendered prudishness that governs 13 Going on 30 gives way to unsettling self-examination and an intriguing gumshoe plot

Cannes 2026: Léa Seydoux in The Unknown (L'Inconnu), directed by Arthur Harari
Cannes 2026: Léa Seydoux in The Unknown (L'Inconnu), directed by Arthur Harari
The Unknown
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Director: Arthur Harari
Cert: None
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Léa Seydoux, Niels Schneider, Victoire Du Bois, Radu Jude
Running Time: 2 hrs 19 mins

Arthur Harari, the Oscar-winning cowriter of Anatomy of a Fall, follows his tremendous Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle with this high-concept, lo-fi science fiction. The Unknown reworks the body swap, a trope favoured by goofy romcoms, as elevated horror.

David (played by Niels Schneider of I Killed My Mother) is a reclusive photographer who, following a sudden sexual encounter with a stranger, awakens as Léa Seydoux’s Eva.

The gendered prudishness that governs 13 Going on 30 gives way to unsettling self-examination and an intriguing gumshoe plot as Eva attempts to track down her corporeal form, only to discover there are other parties involved.

There are welcome intersections with the mysterious STIs lurking in Black Hole and It Follows, an unsettling, mournful score by Andrea Poggio, and visuals that echo such freaky psychedelic-era titles as Far from the Madding Crowd and The Go-Between.

Tara Brady

Tara Brady

Tara Brady is film critic and features writer at The Irish Times