At its core, this shift isn’t about literature — it’s about looking like a reader. Books have become an accessory, a personality trait and a status symbol. As a result, people are reading more visibly than ever. The joy of getting lost in a story, of struggling with complex ideas and of truly reading seems to be fading.

The film’s title, “A Complete Unknown,” serves as a guide for how it approaches its subject material. Mangold’s script works to uphold the mythology of Dylan as an unknowable artist — who, from the beginning, was reluctant to be defined by others and by himself.