A Different Man (15)

Struggling actor Edward subjects himself to experimental facial reconstructive surgery in the hope the procedure will lessen the effects of his neurofibromatosis. Miraculously, the treatment sluices tumours off his face and reveals a new visage. Edward kills off his former self and reinvents himself as a successful real estate agent named Guy. When former neighbour Ingrid writes a play entitled Edward about his pre-surgery self, Guy becomes dangerously fixated on the actor playing him.

LondonNet Film Review

A Different Man (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Real beauty flourishes when you fully embrace and cherish your authentic self. However, if the person staring back in the mirror does not fit your perception of beauty, which has been polished to a lustre of unattainability by advertising, magazines, films, TV and social media, it is easy to allow comparative disappointment to wage a fierce internal battle with self-loathing. A Different Man is an ambling, New York-set tragicomedy written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, glimpsed through the eyes of a struggling actor with neurofibromatosis named Edward. The genetic condition has caused benign tumours to grow along his nerves and visibly manifest on his face and neck, drawing unkind and callous glances on the street…

Played with sensitivity by Sebastian Stan wearing prosthetics designed by Oscar-nominated makeup artist Mike Marino, Edward shrinks from the world outside audition rooms and instinctively seeks looks of disgust from strangers to self-sabotage his confidence. A radical medical procedure opens the possibility of altering his appearance and Schimberg’s picture mines absurdist humour from a decision to move forward with surgery, straying into the realms of blood-spattered horror in a disorienting final act that is one bitter pill too many for me to swallow. Stan’s performance is impeccably calibrated and he employs mannerisms before and after the medical intervention to convey deep-rooted social awkwardness that one character pithily likens to “Woody Allen… when he was young and a little nervous.”

Struggling actor Edward (Stan) subjects himself to experimental facial reconstructive surgery to lessen the visible signs of his neurofibromatosis. Neighbour and playwright Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) is one of the few people to see past his appearance but she refuses to let sparks of attraction catch fire, cautioning that, “I leave a trail of tragedy in my wake.” Miraculously, the tumours peel off Edward’s face and reveal a new visage.

He kills off his former self by telling neighbours that Edward committed suicide (which crestfallen Ingrid overhears) and reinvents himself as a successful real estate agent named Guy, who confidently closes deals and has his face plastered on posters on Subway trains. When Ingrid writes a semi-autobiographical stage work entitled Edward, Guy becomes fixated on playing the part using a prosthetic mask of his old face but a charismatic British actor named Oswald (Adam Pearson) with the condition beats him to the part.

A Different Man is a surreal fable replete with a cameo by Michael Shannon playing himself, which poses timely, conscience-pricking questions about how we look at ourselves and others. Pearson exudes an effervescence, easy-going charm and lightness absent from other characters, so we are immediately drawn to his debonair Brit abroad. Schimberg’s script preaches a familiar sermon of self-love, which isn’t always easy to practise. The greatest and most turbulent love affair of any life is with yourself.

– Kim Hu