A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about “The Apprentice,” where actor Sebastian Stan had to put on the mask of an egomaniac for two hours. Here I am, a couple of weeks later, reviewing another film where Sebastian Stan has to wear a mask of sorts. This time around, the film, “A Different Man,” far more successful.
“A Different Man” is a darkly comic film from writer/director Aaron Schimberg, a relative newcomer who makes a big splash with this film. The movie, shot on 16mm film, resembles an independent feature from the early ’90s, and while it is difficult to place the exact timeframe of the story, it seems to be set somewhere during this decade as well.
Stan plays Edward Lemuel, a struggling New York City actor with neurofibromatosis type 1, a disfiguring facial condition. Stan, completely unrecognizable here under layers of impressive, award-worthy makeup, is shy, awkward, and socially stifled by his condition. He desires to live a life of what he considers normalcy. However, judging from Lemuel’s interactions with others throughout the early part of this film, no one seems to be bothered by his affliction, certainly not to the degree he is.
The story moves fast. Lemuel’s run-down NYC apartment is a character in itself, and there is a growing, festering leak in the ceiling that menaces him. Lemuel’s new neighbor, Ingrid Vold, is a Norwegian transplant trying to become a playwright. She befriends Lemuel, sees past his disfigurement, and wants to know the person inside. Confidence is a feeling Lemuel’s never known, and he doesn’t trust Vold could have romantic intentions.
Along comes the first of several intriguing twists that send “A Different Man” on an odyssey of Charlie Kaufman proportions. Lemuel receives an opportunity to participate in a breakthrough medical study and procedure, which teases a potential miracle cure for his neurofibromatosis. Lemuel doesn’t seem interested initially, but the thought of becoming a different man with a so-called “normal” face and maybe finding romance with his next-door neighbor proves too compelling to deny, so he signs up.
In the grand body-horror tradition of such recent thematic parallels as the movie “The Substance,” Lemuel’s transformation from disfigurement to the handsome actor looks of the person playing him, Sebastian Stan, emerges through some grotesque sequences. And when the transformation is complete, timed with the grand collapse of Lemuel’s ceiling, he decides the only way to move forward with this new face is to kill off Edward Lemuel.
Thematically, this act catapults the story into an exciting place. A new face was not enough for Stan’s Lemuel; he doesn’t trust his personality, although the Edward Lemuel we, the audience, were getting to know seemed like a splendid individual.
Instead, Edward Lemuel becomes the more confident and sophisticated real estate personality “Guy Moratz.” Guy Moratz is everything Edward Lemuel dreamt of being but did not feel he could be unless he put on a new mask of personality. So, who is the real Edward Lemuel? Is it this guy “Guy?” It’s a heady philosophical question that writer/ director Schimberg has fun with as he toys with the conventional plot narratives film audiences typically navigate.
Before long, Stan’s new persona, Moratz, stumbles upon a small off-broadway theater where his old neighbor (Guy Moratz has moved into a much swankier NYC apartment situation) Ingrid Vold is casting a play, which is a thinly veiled version of her relationship with Edward Lemuel.
Yes, this movie is getting pretty meta at this point, and things get even crazier when Stan shows up to audition for the part that he was ‘literally’ born to play because, in essence, the main character is him. To audition, he wears a mask made from the mold of his original face, created at the start of his medical treatment.
So, yeah, this movie is one of those films. You can either come along for the ride or not. But if you are along for the ride, plenty more twists and turns will come. Moratz gets the part in the play, and he even gets the girl-for a while. He and Vold, played with charm by Norway’s Renate Reinsve (the star of “The Worst Person in the World”), begin an affair, and it is unclear if she knows that Guy Moratz is Edward Lemuel, but there appears to be some part of her that suspects something very odd is going on with the situation.
All expectations regarding what’s coming next in this film are entirely thrown out the window in the final stage of the movie when a character named Oswald enters the scene.
Oswald shows up to rehearsals one day, and he, too, has neurofibromatosis and looks strikingly similar to how Edward Lemuel appeared before his surgery. Only differences? The actor playing Oswald, Adam Pearson, in real life has neurofibromatosis. He’s not wearing prosthetic makeup effects. And the second difference? Oswald possesses all of the charm and personality Edward Lemuel wished for. Oswald is unfazed by the neurofibromatosis, and from the moment he arrives in the film, Oswald will slowly but surely take everything away from Guy Moratz, simply through his utter charm and wit.
This movie is crazy. British actor Adam Pearson, who audiences may remember from a scene-stealing moment in Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin,” is a flat-out miracle in this movie. One cannot help but be fascinated by him. When Pearson is on screen, he owns the film. His performance ranks as one of the best supporting performances of 2024. And Sebastian Stan continues to seek out roles that allow him to explore new facets. He triumphs here.
There’s much more to the story than I am sharing because I have to leave some surprises for readers seeking this film out. But if you are a moviegoer who likes provocative filmmaking with a bit of a darkened satirical edge, you won’t want to miss “A Different Man,” now available on-demand.
James Kent is the publisher’s assistant at The Mountain Times and the co-host of the “Stuff We’ve Seen” podcast at stuffweveseen.com.
