A DIFFERENT MAN – Review

Sebastian Stan plays Edward, an aspiring actor with a medical condition that causes facial disfigurement, whose life is dramatically transformed by a new medical treatment. With a new face and a new life, Edward now has a dream life, but his dream changes to nightmare when he finds himself now shut out of the role he was born to play. In writer/director Aaron Shimberg’s darkly comic horror thriller A DIFFERENT MAN, Sebastian Stan gives an impressive performance in a tale that centers on identity, and the contrast between outward appearance and the inner person, in this very clever, original, horror film-tinged and darkly funny film.

Edward (Stan) struggles to find acting work, and suffers from loneliness and isolation in his cramped city apartment. When a pretty playwright, Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), moves into the neighboring apartment and even befriends him, a ray of hope enters his life. Edward is falling for her but crushing insecurity about his looks prevents him from doing anything about it, even when the playwright talks about writing a play specifically for him. Meanwhile, Edward’s doctor tells him about a new experimental medical treatment for his condition, and the actor seizes the chance and enrolls as a test subject.

Treatment transforms his face and his life. Edward looks like a different man, not just “normal” but handsome (this is Sebastian Stan, after all). Strangers greet him warmly, people flock to him, and women fall into his arms. Adopting a new name and concealing his past identity, his future look bright and unlimited. Sudden his fortunes rise, socially and financially, but in changing his identity, he lost track of his pretty neighbor.

But all this dream-come-true comes with an ironic twist, when the actor comes across a play that seems made for him, or who he was in his old life. With any role now available to him as an actor, Edward becomes obsessed by a role that would have been perfect for him with his old face, even though he would now need to wear a mask to play the part. He becomes particularly unsettled when a different man, Oswald (Adam Pearson), who also has a similar facial condition, appears on the scene.

To outward appearances, Sebastian Stan’s character is changed into a different man on the outside but inside he is still who he was. The new guy, Adam Pearson’s Oswald, is a different man inside and out – outgoing, confident, talkative and displaying a range of talents and skills. Plus he’s just fun to be around.

The dark humor is drives this tale but underneath is a challenging topic to tackle in a movie, how people are judged by their outward appearance. This is particularly so, since movies are a medium where appearance dominates so much. However, writer/director Shimberg tackles it well, and brings some personal credentials to making a movie on such a difficult subject, having been born with a cleft lip. Early on, Shimberg reminds us about the bias people have for the more attractive, something well established in research studies, and then goes on to use his film to highlight how people are commonly, rightly or wrongly, by judged by surface appearance, while slyly underlining the differences between the outer form and inner person, through this cleverly funny dark tale.

A DIFFERENT MAN starts out like a drama but there are plentiful horror film references lurking around and the film develops and edgy tension. But then it takes an unexpected turn, slowly morphing into dark, satiric, absurd comedy. Edward’s life is changed repeatedly, first by a ray of hope in the form of a pretty playwright who moves into the next apartment and befriends him, then by his medical miracle that transforms his outward appearance and how he is perceived, and then by the arrival of a different man who looks something like how Edward used to look, who steps into the part that the actor feels born to play but now must wear a mask to play it.

Things get even crazier as Shimberg’s film unfolds. Sebastian Stan does an impressive job with this character who goes through so many changes, in his looks and in his life. Adam Pearson is charming and charismatic throughout as Oswald, which makes Stan’s character’s rage at him all the funnier. Their scenes together are wonderful, and the same can be said for scenes with Stan and Renate Reinsve as Ingrid, whose own flightiness, selective memory, and penchant to pick up and drop romantic partners quickly and with little feeling, adds to the boiling pot. There is plenty of laugh-out-loud moments but Shimberg makes razor-sharp points underneath it all.

A DIFFERENT MAN is an impressive film, sincere and deep but filled with snappy, smart dialog, original, fearless storytelling and fine performances, although it’s quirkiness and dark commentary might not appeal to all. Some might quibble about the pacing, which is a bit slow at times, but really, this is such an original and effective film, that it hardly seems to matter.

If you have a taste for dark humor, an appreciation of original filmmaking and of fine acting, A DIFFERENT MAN is a different film that should not be missed.

A DIFFERENT MAN opens Oct. 4, 2024 in theaters.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars