Léa Seydoux Brings 2 Cannes Competition Films as 'The Unknown' and 'Gentle Monster' Test Her Range
Updated
Updated · Variety · May 18
Léa Seydoux Brings 2 Cannes Competition Films as 'The Unknown' and 'Gentle Monster' Test Her Range
5 articles · Updated · Variety · May 18
Léa Seydoux arrives at Cannes with 2 competition entries opening side by side — Arthur Harari’s body-swap drama “The Unknown” and Marie Kreutzer’s domestic drama “Gentle Monster.”
In “The Unknown,” shot 2½ months after Seydoux gave birth, she plays a woman inhabited by a man’s consciousness, a role she called the best part she has ever played.
“Gentle Monster” pushes in the opposite direction, casting Seydoux as a musician confronting allegations that her husband possesses child pornography, with the film withholding certainty from her character as well.
At 40, Seydoux said the paired premieres capture what draws her to acting: transformation, vulnerability and a way to make existential questions about identity visible on screen.
The Cannes double bill extends a busy run that also includes A24’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” reinforcing her status as a festival mainstay and possible acting-prize contender.
Does the film's serious realism undermine the surreal horror of its body-swapping premise?
How does Léa Seydoux portray a man’s consciousness experiencing the biological reality of pregnancy?
As Hollywood skips Cannes, can a polarizing film like *The Unknown* become a mainstream international hit?