Mind-bending film A Different Man dabbles in black comedy

Movies that deal with physical or psychological differences in humans tend to be earnest affairs, with the affected person either rising above the odds or teaching people around them a lesson in compassion. Nothing of the sort is featured in A Different Man, where the only lesson learned is one of humility by the main character with the physical difference.

Edward (Sebastian Stan), whose face and head are enlarged from an unspecified condition, is an actor who makes a meager living starring in workplace education videos. He lives in a drab, rundown apartment, and seems generally depressed, just trying to get through each day without suffering some kind of humiliation.

His outlook starts to change when Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) moves in next door and treats him with kindness. Whether to attract her attention or to get out of his malaise, Edward agrees to an experimental treatment that promises to get rid of his condition. It’s no big spoiler to say that it works, but what happens after is a surprise, especially when Oswald (Adam Pearson), a man with a similar condition but a much sunnier disposition, comes into his life.

Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, the film is nowhere near as straightforward as that synopsis makes it sound. Schimberg inserts all kinds of weird details, including a never-ending leak in Edward’s apartment and odd time jumps, that keep the audience on their heels. And while it would be wrong to say that Edward’s condition is ignored by others in the film, as he gets more than a few stares, few people actively comment on it.

In fact, Schimberg seems much more interested in Edward’s mental health than his physical state. His personality stands in stark contrast to that of Oswald, who seems to approach every situation with positivity and confidence, as if his condition didn’t even exist. The film has a lot going on after the two meet, but the push and pull between how each man approaches the world provides the central conflict.

Consequently, the film often plays out more as a comedy than as a drama. Edward’s post-transformation world is even stranger than the one he inhabited before, and every interaction he has is laced with an undercurrent of artifice, with no one acting in a normal manner. Edward finds himself in increasingly absurd situations that test his mental wellness, and the oddness of them elicit laughs more than anything else.

Stan is a chameleon of an actor who’s played everything from a Marvel superhero to an upcoming turn as a young Donald Trump. He plays both sides of Edward well, giving off a sad-sack energy no matter his physical state. But it’s Pearson who steals the movie, as he projects a spiritedness that turns Oswald from someone who might be pitied into someone who’s a force of nature. Reinsve makes for an able foil for both characters.

A Different Man is a film that’s in conversation with the recent The Substance, as they both deal with people who seek to change their appearance, albeit for very different reasons. In both cases, it falls under a “be careful what you wish for” scenario, with the solution not necessarily delivering the result the person wanted.

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A Different Man is now playing in theaters.