How much does what you look like define who you are? If you completely change your appearance, are you the same person? This is just one of many questions that A Different Man is pondering. The film is doing so in a fairly unusual manner, one that could even prove off-putting for some. However, if you can get on the movie’s wavelength, there’s something very compelling here. Some choices worked more for me than others, but throughout I found myself curious what would happen next.
A Different Man is far more surreal and weirder than you might be expecting, which should suggest just how strange this one gets. There’s a David Lynch vibe to things (alongside Woody Allen and especially Charlie Kaufman) that may affect audiences in different ways, but while at times it kept me at arm’s length, I never lost interest. Even when the plot goes a bit off the rails in the third act, I stayed engaged. The acting goes a long way, alongside just needing to see how the story resolves itself.
Edward (Sebastian Stan) is an aspiring actor who, due to neurofibromatosis, has a face that gets a lot of lingering looks on the subway. He’s a sad sack, timid and withdrawn, even when acting in small parts. When a new neighbor, the playwright Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) moves in, she’s clearly flirting with him, but he’s barely able to recognize it, let alone act on it. It’s a very sad life, full of loneliness and surgeries, though when his doctor suggests a medical study with an experimental drug that could cure neurofibromatosis, he opts in. Shortly thereafter, his old face literally starts to peel away, revealing a whole new one. Instead of telling Ingrid or anyone else, he claims Edward has died and adopts a whole new identity.
Now living as Guy, a hot shot real estate agent, he’s become a ladies man. One day, he passes by an audition for Ingrid’s play, which he comes to realize is based on their brief friendship. Auditioning, he eventually gets the part while wearing a mold of his old face. The role is clearly written for him and is the one he was born to play, but in his new life, he’s faking it. It’s a struggle, made all the more complicated when Oswald (Adam Pearson) comes along, with all the confidence Edward lacked, while having the same affliction. A downward spiral for Edward/Guy begins.
Watching Sebastian Stan crumble is very compelling, as it’s clearly the most challenging role of his career. Adam Pearson really breaks through, showing some truly impressive acting chops, while Renate Reinsve shows that The Worst Person in the World is no fluke and she should be a star. The three have very different interactions with each other, but they’re all quite good. Stan doesn’t have his performance suffer under the makeup, while when his actual face is on screen, he seems just as uncomfortable, as the script requires. Pearson and Reinsve are a little less well-rounded, but their talents shine through. The supporting cast includes Miles G. Jackson and Malachi Weir, as well as a wild cameo I won’t spoil.
Filmmaker Aaron Schimberg certainly doesn’t hold back. He’s jamming a ton of ideas into a slightly under two hour running time. His direction supports the actors, while his screenplay is almost overflowing with thoughts. The first half worked better for me than the second half, with the final section a little too surreal, even for this plot, but it never becomes boring or repetitive. A Different Man has a lot to say and almost demands that you engage with it. Schimberg manages to pull off the act of casting Pearson opposite the role he’d actually have been born to play, which is just another layer of discussion. Like I said, there’s a lot going on here.
A Different Man is hardly perfect, and when it goes off the rails, it does feel like a very different picture, but the concept itself, as well as the acting, keep you from ever losing interest. Sebastian Stan is challenged like never before, Adam Pearson is showcased like never before, and the film itself is something rather new. It all makes for the sort of dramedy that A24 does very well, with this movie another example of that.
SCORE: ★★★