Joshua Marston's Complete Unknown begins in a disjointed manner, exhibiting a montage of images that portray a young woman's frantic lifestyle, one that seems to consist of a character who is constantly on the run. This introduction is enigmatic and mysterious, providing very little substance in its documentation of this woman we have just been introduced too, only subtly expressing that this character may be running from someone or something. From there the film finds itself in New York City, where we are introduced to Tom, an individual who is in a current state of emotional crisis, contemplating a move to California with his wife who has just been accepted into graduate school. When Tom's co-worker arrives at his birthday party with an intriguing date, Alice, the same woman which appears to be documented in the opening montage of the film, Tom in convinced he knows her. While Alice refuses to acknowledge their past at first, it becomes clear as the night goes on that Tom and Alice do have a shared past, setting off a night of personal discovery and self-reinvention. Joshua Marston's Complete Unknown is a character piece through and through, a film that relies heavily on the performances of its two lead actors in Michael Shannon and Rachel Weitz to tell its story of souls adrift. Taking place almost entirely over the course of a single night, Complete Unknown is a story about the frustrations and complexities of re-invention, exhibiting how two individuals shared past have led them down completely different paths. Through this shared night, Complete Unknown reveals how Alice is a character who often changes her personal identities, constantly attempting to frame her life the way she wants, unable to grasp that she is merely running from her own identity. Tom on the other-hand feels stuck in the perpetual, stagnant nature of his desk job, with his wife's new acceptance into the graduate program adding a new level of stress to his life, one in which he struggles to accept due to the vast changes it will have on his life. While Tom's way of dealing with his issues is through suppression, Alice's is through expression, with the two individuals' different approaches almost serving as a therapeutic cocktail over the course of the night, with old feelings and emotions helping both characters deal with their underlying insecurities. Enigmatic at first, Complete Unknown is a film that leaves Alice and Tom's shared past as somewhat ambiguous, exhibiting how they were ex-lovers but never going into the intricate details of what when wrong. Due to this decision, Complete Unknown is able to touch on some universally human emotions of longing, insecurity, and personal discovery, expressing the feelings of adrift many individuals feel in life, with all of us as humans simply trying to find what makes us happy in the time we do have on this planet. Emotional or professional stagnation is a major component of this shape-shifting story of past colliding with present, as Joshua Marston's Complete Unknown delivers an intricate, emotional study of the insecurities and thrills of personal growth and the importance of personal identity.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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