Sebastian Stan Gives an Acting Masterclass in the Unpredictable, Excellent A Different Man

Edward is not a assured guy. He’s got a terrible facial disfigurement and everyplace helium goes, radical look astatine him otherwise oregon dainty him arsenic little than. So adjacent though he’s a moving actor, helium ne'er feels that large astir himself. That changes when, done a occurrence aesculapian procedure, his disfigurement goes away. But what happens next, well, not adjacent Edward could’ve predicted.

That’s the setup of A Different Man, a caller film by writer-director Aaron Schimberg. Sebastian Stan stars as Edward, archetypal with the disfigurement and aboriginal without it. And astatine this point, you are astir apt reasoning “Oh, I cognize precisely wherever this goes. Once helium looks similar Sebastian Stan everything gets easier for him and the movie is astir the hypocrisy successful that.” Which, yes, is surely portion of it, but Schimberg has much, overmuch much to accidental astir perception, personality, and a full batch more.

Much of it happens due to the fact that of Edward’s caller neighbour Ingrid, an aspiring playwright played by Renate Reinsve (The World Person In the World). Ingrid rapidly befriends Edward and though he’s intelligibly successful emotion with her, she wants to support things platonic. Edward ne'er tells Ingrid astir the imaginable occurrence drugs he’s taking though, and erstwhile the translation occurs, Edward makes a shocking decision. One that, if I’m being honorable here, is benignant of a spoiler but besides intolerable to sermon the remainder of the movie without mentioning. So, I’m gonna driblet this spoiler informing here—and if you permission this station now, conscionable cognize that A Different Man is large and you should spot it.

Okay, truthful erstwhile Edward’s disfigurement goes away, helium lies astir everything. With a caller face, everyone assumes he’s a antithetic person, truthful helium buys into that, saying that Edward committed suicide. Then, the movie jumps up a fewer years, and we spot that New Edward, who calls himself Guy, has made a beauteous palmy beingness for himself arsenic a existent property agent. However, erstwhile Guy sees that Ingrid has written a play astir her “deceased” neighbor, helium finds himself backmost successful her beingness and yet with the narration helium ever dreamed of.

And that’s erstwhile Oswald comes in. Oswald, played by Adam Pearson, has a facial disfigurement akin to Edward’s, but Oswald is the nonstop other of Edward. He doesn’t fto thing get successful his way. Oswald is uber-confident, the beingness of the party, the speech of the town, and seeing that a idiosyncratic with a facial disfigurement tin beryllium similar without changing their look really, really gets to Guy/Edward. This is erstwhile A Different Man truly kicks in.

Up until that point, which is astir apt implicit fractional the movie, A Different Man is good. Stan is solid, Reinsve is charming, and Pearson is electric, but it each unfolds astir however you’d expect. It’s erstwhile Guy starts to envy Oswald and Oswald goes connected his ain travel that Schimberg starts messing with your head. Are looks not important? What is normal, anyway? And arsenic Guy goes deeper down his rabbit spread of despair, seemingly hopeless to get his aged look back, things proceed to escalate, yet to a near-comical place. The movie adds furniture upon furniture to springiness the assemblage each of these actions and emotions to see erstwhile reasoning astir the narration betwixt Guy, Oswald, and Ingrid. And, eventually, it does travel down beauteous powerfully with an important, cosmopolitan message, delivered successful an off-kilter, but effectual way.

A Different Man is sad, funny, awkward, dark, and fascinating. The actors each springiness unthinkable performances but Stan successful peculiar dazzles, archetypal arsenic Edward, past arsenic Guy, past arsenic Guy who wishes helium was Edward again. It’s a chaotic trajectory for a precise archetypal movie that you won’t soon forget.

A Different Man precocious played astatine Fantastic Fest successful Austin, Texas, and is present unfastened successful constricted release. It’ll grow successful the coming weeks.

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