First image of Léa Seydoux in L’Inconnue by Arthur Harari

The film is in official competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Five years later Onoda, 10,000 nights in the jungle (César for best original screenplay 2022), Arthur Harari returns with a fantastic drama.

He is also known as an actor with The Battle of Solferino, Sibyl And The Goldman Trialor as a screenwriter, notably alongside his partner Justine Triet on Anatomy of a fallawarded the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for best original screenplay. Today, he makes his comeback as a director with The Unknownin competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The official selection of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival

Adapted from the comic strip The David Zimmerman casewhich he co-wrote with his brother, Lucas Harari, the film mixes dramatic comedy and fantasy universe. It’s the story of a man, in his forties, lonely and a homebody, who finds himself at a party. He is immediately seduced by a woman… The next day, he is in the body of this stranger.

In the cast, we will find Léa Seydoux, Niels Schneider, Valérie Dréville and Lilith Grasmug (Blood oranges). This is the first time that the actress The Life of Adèle and Niels Schneider, who play the main roles, are reunited. On the other hand, this is the second time that the actor has collaborated with Harari after the thriller Black Diamond.

After the success of these first two films, The Unknown is one of the curiosities of this 79th Cannes edition…

Synopsis: “Almost 40 years old, David Zimmerman is a photographer but no one knows it. While he almost never leaves his house, friends drag him to a crazy party. He spots a woman in the crowd, can’t take his eyes off her, follows her… A few hours later, David wakes up: he is in the stranger’s body.”

The Unknown will be released on August 26 in French cinemas.