A Different Man

Sebastian Stan delivers an ingeniously embodied performance as Edward, an aspiring actor with severe facial disfigurement, to whom we’re introduced as he navigates a dreary daily existence marked by discouragement and resignation. When a winsome playwright (Renate Reinsve) moves in next door, and an experimental medical procedure becomes available to change his face, Edward’s outlook brightens, and he jumps at the chance for a new lease on life—until the arrival of Oswald (Adam Pearson), an outgoing and warmly charismatic stranger puts his newfound ‘normalcy’ into perspective, and his artistic aspirations in jeopardy.

Aaron Schimberg’s latest is a discomfiting tour de force, a social satire that wrangles thorny questions of identity and authenticity with unflinching honesty and slyly virtuosic storytelling flair.