Bob Dylan’s rise to fame becomes a rich, largely satisfying drama which pitches preservation against progress, as the singer storms onto the folk scene before daring to take things in a new, electric direction. The director of Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, James Mangold, takes on another musical megastar, while Timothée Chalamet continues his own unstoppable ascent by stepping into Dylan’s shoes.

Arriving in New York City in 1961, a young Dylan is quickly taken under the wing of the ailing Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) after visiting the former in hospital. He enters into a relationship with activist Sylvie (Elle Fanning) whilst occasionally sleeping with folk star Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). The aforementioned Cash appears here too, courtesy of a fleeting but powerfully charismatic turn from an almost unrecognisable Boyd Holbrook.

Although it’s hard to avoid impersonation with someone as unmistakable as Dylan, Chalamet does a decent job of fleshing him out and his ability to emulate his singing style is astonishing. As we’ve seen in the Dune franchise, he’s capable of conveying greatness and the burden that comes with it. Perhaps reflecting Dylan’s carelessness with women, the female roles are dispiritingly thin, but the actresses do their best: Fanning makes an impression in a part hardly worthy of her talent, while Barbaro brings spark and slyness to Baez.

A Complete Unknown intelligently captures professional jealousies, the power of truly phenomenal music, and the othering effect of stardom. Unlike, say, Better Man, this is not a radical reinvention of the biopic, but it builds effectively to the controversies of its Newport Folk Festival conclusion, buoyed by superb casting and the incomparable brilliance of Dylan’s tunes.

A Complete Unknown is in cinemas from Friday 17 January.