This ain’t Freaky Friday.

For my second film of the 64th New York Film Festival, I went with The Unknown, directed by Arthur Harari, who helped co-write the screenplay for Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall. I was intrigued by the concept of body switching being done straight, instead of for laughs. Because’s let be real: if we switched bodies with someone we only knew through a sexual encounter the night before, we wouldn’t be having a normal walk of shame.

The results were not what I expected.

One thing to appreciate about The Unknown is how it balances the unnervingness and the absurdity of its main plot device. When we think of body switching, we think of comedic films like Freaky Friday and that one episode of Jessie where the main characters switch bodies, leading to some colorful hijinks and a few questionable scenarios that would only fit a Disney Channel series in the early 2010s. However, when Parisian photographer David switches bodies with waitress Eva during a one-night stand, there’s not the stereotypical screaming accompanied by jabs at the other’s appearance. There’s shock, and then a profound unease.

We all look at ourselves in the mirror everyday, but there’s at least a sense of control when you look at yourself. You’re the one in control. You’re the one who knows your body the best, where’s it’s been, where everything goes. When David wakes up as Eva, he’s not used to being in a woman’s body. Using a mirror, he surveys what used to be Eva’s naked body, eschewing objectification for deep unease. It’s not just that he switched bodies, but that he’s switched bodies with a stranger he only knew for five seconds. IT doesn’t feel like a fun new quirk he’ll have to adjust to. This time, it’s an existential violation.

What further differentiates this film is that there are rules to the body switching. Typically when you switch bodies, you switch into the body of the person you’re with. But after you’ve had sex with someone in The Unknown, something passes between the two partners and moves on. When David (in Eva’s body) finds his original body, he thinks he’s found the key to undoing everything. Instead, he finds the soul of a teenage girl Malia, terrified and grieving at the life she’s forced to leave behind. The implications are terrifying. Whatever’s causing the body switching has no qualms about leaving loose threads. It’s basically It Follows except there’s no physical death.

The Unknown is extremely captivating and yet weirdly messed up. It’s one of those films where you feel like you should give up on it, but you’re too deeply invested in the characters for you to stop. In a way, you’re right there alongside the characters. David and Malia are in this together, and even if they find their original bodies, they’re never going to be rid of their situation so easily. The body switching has effectively turned their bodies into a crime scene. Even if they return to their original form, David and Malia will never be the same again. For what this film lacked, it does turn into a weird kind of body horror. There’s no mutation, but there’s still an invasion and disturbance of where you feel most at home.

However, this film almost made me feel too uncomfortable. I know it’s a very accessible Gen Z stereotype to latch onto, but I feel about this film the way some people view Saltburn. There’s a lot about the shocking elements that work, but there’s also the case to be made that some things could have been toned down. Sometimes the filmmakers just want to shock people, and then there’s filmmakers that want to profoundly disturb the audience. The Unknown does a great job at unsettling you in a lot of ways, but there’s further moments where the audience was laughing from how weird the movie was getting. There are humorous moments in The Unknown, but it was hard to tell sometimes whether it was genuine or not. You’re almost grateful when the film holds back.

I think The Unknown knows how funny body switching can get, but it also finds it hard to not make fun of it. But black comedy has its limits. You can only make fun of a disturbing situation for so long before it gets tired and diminishes what made it so disturbing to begin with.

FURTHER THOUGHTS

• Arthur Harari mentioned in the Q&A that Alice in the Cities was an influence, and I was over the moon.
• Léa Seydoux started filming three months after she gave birth, so a massive kudos to her.
• Never trust a guy who’s got a restraining order on him.