‘A Different Man’ review: Dir. Aaron Schimberg [Berlinale]

After making a splash at Sundance in January, A Different Man comes to Europe to compete in the official competition for the Berlin Golden Bear. A darkly funny drama, Aaron Schimberg’s New York story puts Sebastian Stan into the shoes of a budding actor living with neurofibromatosis who gets a chance to change his appearance through a new medical trial.

Stan plays Edward, a native New Yorker who suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue, specifically his face. He’s a budding actor and, in the opening scenes, we see him appear in his first work, a corporate video telling workers to be nice to people like Edward at work. He lives alone in an NYC apartment block full of noisy neighbours, holes in the ceiling and no room to move. On a pivotal day, an attractive playwright, Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), moves into the apartment next door and a friendship is immediately formed. In the background, Edward is consulting with doctors about what the future holds for him and an option is put forward to potentially take part in a trial which could lead to him having his facial appearance completely changed.

Edward is used to people looking at him, commenting on his facial appearance, both in the street and in the apartment block in which he lives. Ingrid seems to be different, the two spending lots of time together, but it falls short of romance, much to the dismay of Edward.

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Time moves on and the bond between Edward and Ingrid grows and the medical experiment looks like it is working, but will a new look at new opportunities bring him what he craves from life so much?

The film is essentially split into two halves, the first tackling events leading up to Edward’s transformation, Stan in full prosthetics, and the second half with the actor transforming into Guy, the handsome estate agent, a life complete with (s)wanky pad with beautiful Manhattan views sparse of the clutter and loved items that filled his previous abode. The film is jam-filled with treats, especially the performance by Stan who is at his absolute best in both forms. While the film drags towards the end of the third act, Stan continues to delight and offer up delight as the transformed man who realises that a picture-perfect exterior doesn’t quite bring the happiness expected.

Reinsve, too, is as good as she was in her breakout, Joaquin Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, and brings a huge warmth to proceedings, but the stand-out is Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis himself. He brings a brilliant character to the screen in Oswald, a man who leads a full life, extroverted and human seemingly without a care in the world. He’s excellent in every scene and lights up the movie.

A Different Man won’t be for all, and it may outstay its welcome in terms of running time and pacing, but I lapped up every minute of it. Fans of Stan’s work in the likes of Fresh and Schimberg’s first movie, Chained for Life, will dig this often funny and touching genre-bender from an emerging and exciting new voice in American cinema.

A Different Man was reviewed at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival.