Movie Review: 'A Different Man'

A Different Man

Directed by Aaron Schimberg

Written by Aaron Schimberg

Starring Sebastian Stan, Renata Reinsve, Aaron Pearson

Release Date January 21st, 2024

Published December 4th, 2024

A Different Man stars Sebastian Stan as an actor named Edward Lemuel. Edward has neurofibromatosis, his face is deeply disfigured. Living in New York City and struggling to get by with what little acting work he can get, Edward meets his new neighbor, Ingrid Vold (Renate Reinsve) and is immediately smitten. She’s an aspiring playwright and the two become friendly though it appears that Ingrid only wants to be friends with Edward, a heartbreaking feeling for poor Edward.

As he’s struggling along, Edward is also looking for treatments for his condition and an experimental procedure may be the key. Working with a shady doctor, Edward is stunned to find his condition improving and pieces of his old face are falling off to reveal a handsome new man. Not wanting Ingrid to know it’s him, Edward takes the chance to create a new identity, inventing a man named Guy Moratz and claiming to others that Edward had taken his own life.

Cut to several years later and Edward/Guy has used his newfound handsomeness to achieve success in the world of real estate. Then, he learns that Ingrid has written a play called ‘Edward’ and is set to stage it off-Broadway. It’s the story of her friend Edward, a man with Neurofibromatosis. Yes, it’s based on her friendship with the man she thinks took his own life and imagines what might have happened if their relationship had gone beyond friendship. It’s a shock to Guy who sneaks his way in to audition to play ‘Edward.’

He doesn’t get the part initially but when he returns with a mask of his former face, one given to him by his doctor prior to his procedure, he wins everyone over. He then tries inserting himself further into the writing process, trying to correct scenes that he remembers differently from the way Ingrid recalls and has written them. He and Ingrid also enter into a relationship but it’s fraught with his lies and his desperate desire to to inflict his version of Edward onto this mythologized version crafted by Ingrid.

Guy/Edward’s challenge takes on a new dimension when a man named Oswald (Adam Pearson) enters the story. Oswald also has neurofibromatosis and is consulted as an expert on the condition. Soon, Oswald begins to usurp Guy/Edward’s place in the play and in the life of Ingrid who is drawn to him as a happier, more charming and affable version of the Edward she met and whom she believes has died. Thus, Guy/Edward is left to watch the life he dreamed for himself being lived by someone else.

The question at the heart of A Different Man is: What makes you, You? Who are you really? Are you your face? Are you the body you inhabit? Are you who people make you out to be? Or are you constructed from all of these various pieces to create a semblance of a whole. It’s a fascinating thought experiment and A Different Man is a wonderful vehicle for a conversation about identity. Writer-Director Aaron Schimberg has crafted a devious series of events that both reveal the flaws and faults of his main character while also offering tantalizing questions for us in the audience about our own constructed identities.

Sebastian Stan’s performance in A Different Man is among the best work of his career. Caught between constructions of self, Edward/Guy is left unmoored from any one idea of himself and he slowly goes mad. Stan’s eyes are a wonder; they are alive with pain, frustration, excitement, and agony. That goes for both his performance under piles of prosthetic makeup and when he’s out from under the makeup. It’s fascinating to watch Stan’s eyes be the one consistent aspect of his identity, a way of seeing the way his mind works while he uses his two faces to hide his intentions.

The wonderful Adam Pearson is a breath of fresh air. I’ve encountered Pearson before in appearances on YouTube where he enjoys playing board games with friends. He’s so charming and funny and his lack of actorly airs, plus the way he’s introduced by director Aaron Schimberg, changes the atmosphere of the movie. Pearson’s charm and complete lack of pretension is a perfect opposite to Stan’s angst riddled performance and how Guy/Edward's constantly constrained appearance creates tension that infects every scene. Pearson perfectly punctures the tension of the film, injecting a light breeze into the hothouse of Guy/Edward’s many lies.

Renate Reinsve is unfortunately a victim of being dragged along by the plot. She has to buy into Guy/Edward’s lies and she’s rarely given a moment to be dynamic or push the story forward. She moves seamlessly between Edward/Guy and Oswald seemingly because the movie needs her to and not because it feels like an organic choice by the character. That’s not to say that she’s unconvincing in falling for Oswald, I know I fell for this charming, charming man, but the movie doesn’t have time to bring much depth to that relationship as it is only functional to Guy/Edward’s story.

That’s a minor complaint though as A Different Man is strong enough to recommend despite its flaws. This is a terrifically smart, savvy movie that asks big questions about identity, the notion of self, and how the way other people see us informs who we are. It’s a clever movie with a dark sensibility that finds a few ways to lighten the mood in what is otherwise an oppressively sad atmosphere. Even when Guy/Edward is happy, he’s not happy. He’s plagued by his lies and constructions and his inability to craft his own identity is at the center of the film’s dark humor and agonizing humanity.

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