A Different Man

The A24 logo at the start of director Aaron Schimberg’s film is a promising sign. After all, this is the film distributor with taste that’s both impeccable and interesting, as proven by the likes of Everything Everywhere All at Once, Midsommar, Moonlight and Lady Bird. An A24 film may not be perfect, but it never commits cinema’s cardinal sin – of being boring. This makes A Different Man a valuable addition to the family: a delightful oddball that seems to enjoy being weird.

Sebastian Stan plays Edward, an actor with neurofibromatosis, a condition involving multiple tumours throughout the nervous system, which can lead to disfigurement of the face. Stan plays the role under heavy prosthetics, but Edward is frustrated by his own lack of roles, leading him to undergo a revolutionary medical procedure that turns him into someone who looks like, well, Sebastian Stan. After previously playing roles in instructional videos about how to relate to “your disfigured co-worker”, Edward’s post-procedure acting life (after faking his own death and renaming himself Guy) involves playing a veiled version of himself (written by his neighbour who thinks he’s dead, naturally), while wearing a heavy mask that recreates his former disfigurement.

Things become even more knotted with the appearance of Oswald (Adam Pearson), who actually has neurofibromatosis, and is better at playing Edward in the play than Edward is. As mentioned, it’s a movie that enjoys being weird. Everything is thrown at the wall to see what sticks, and as it turns out, most of it does. Schimberg’s script achieves a true balancing act – with the story becoming increasingly tangled without becoming too dense.

But what does it all mean? Possibly everything, and perhaps nothing. The movie creates multiple levels of interpretation (Edward’s creepily evaporating sense of self, what it means to feel normal) and leans into all of them in an undiscriminating way. As Ingrid, Edward’s unfiltered neighbour (and crush), Renate Reinsve is extremely appealing and does a lot with a role that could have been mostly reactive. And as Oswald, Adam Pearson is so amiable, so likeable, that it’s wondered what he might be hiding. This is certainly a film that will make an audience wonder… wonder what they’ve just seen – in truly memorable fashion.

Oliver Johnston

A Different Man is released nationwide on 4^th October 2024.

Watch the trailer for A Different Man here: