The whole “twin films” phenomenon in Hollywood is happening again right now with The Substance and A Different Man. Released around the same time by different studios, both films share similar stories and themes around identity and the unyielding quest for beauty. I don’t have the stomach for gore, so I asked my friend and frequent FlixChatter contributor to review The Substance. While there are some disturbing scenes, I’m glad that writer/director Aaron Schimberg didn’t make A Different Man into a gore-fest.

We first see an aspiring actor named Edward Lemuel (Sebastian Stan in heavy prosthetics) who suffers from neurofibromatosis. Edward is a mild-mannered, awkward loner who’s just trying to live a normal life in NYC, which can be tough when he’s got benign tumors growing on his face and neck. As one might expect, people would gawk at him on the streets and on the subway, some would even recoil. He’s the star of a workplace sensitivity training video that describes his condition as ‘facially different,’ but empathy and kindness aren’t that easy to ‘train’ people on. One of his neighbors actually asks Edward if he’s got a barely noticeable lump on his neck [cue eye roll]

A gorgeous neighbor Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) moves in next door. She flinches the first time she sees his face, but despite that, she tries to build a friendship with Edward, and the two begin spending more time together. Ingrid doesn’t hide her curiosity and given she is an aspiring playwright, I can’t help but wonder if she’s just after a good story and there’s a lot to mine from a neighbor suffering from facial disfigurement. Meanwhile, Edward takes part in a groundbreaking medical experiment that miraculously works wonders. The moment he literally peels off his face is pretty gross, akin to an extreme version of a peel-off mask that’s left on for too long and dried out excessively.

Suddenly voilà, Edward’s new dream face appears in the form of Sebastian Stan, and his life is practically transformed overnight. For a while, he’s living a charmed life where women just flock to him and for a time he too is enamored with himself, checking out his reflection in the mirror while a woman goes down on him in a grimy bar bathroom. One might expect Edward to be all about celebrating this medical breakthrough and shouting it from the rooftops, but instead, he hides behind a new persona as Guy, a rising star in the real estate game.

Schimberg throws in some quirky magical realism and riotous dark humor, further amplified when Edward’s former life sneaks back in as he inadvertently gets dragged into Ingrid’s play titled ‘Edward.’ The meta element is off the charts as Guy ends up portraying his former self, complete with the mask of his old face (a gift from his doctor) he often wears. Things get even more bizarre when Oswald shows up (played by Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis). Oswald is such a contrast to Edward, he’s sociable, confident, energetic, and great at Karaoke to boot! He doesn’t see himself as a victim and nonchalantly challenges Edward’s and society’s idea that looks determine one’s quality of life.

Watching this makes me recall the Phantom of the Opera, which also deals with a disfigured man hiding behind a face. There’s a scene towards the end when Phantom’s love of his life, Christine, sings to him ‘This haunted face holds no horror for me now … It’s in your soul that the true distortion lies.’ That’s how I see Edward, as he becomes increasingly restless and hollow with his newfound beauty. He grows envious of all the attention on Oswald, especially as Ingrid becomes more enamored with him to the point that Oswald ends up replacing Guy as the lead of her play. That eerie decaying hole in Edward’s apartment ceiling that’s been rotting for ages seems to mimic the condition of his heart.

I’m impressed with Stan here whose career trajectory has been so interesting to watch since his role as Bucky in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He totally nails the role of a man who can’t seem to feel completely at ease with himself. This has been a strong year for the Romanian-born actor with buzzy roles like this one and as Trump in The Apprentice. Norwegian actress Reinsve (the star of Oscar-nominated The Worst Person in the World) is lovely as Ingrid, while Pearson turns in a scene-stealing role as Oswald. The world-building effectively pulls viewers into the characters’ lived-in world, aided by Wyatt Garfield’s astute camera work, and Umberto Smerilli’s haunting score that often feels deliberately intrusive.

A Different Man is a peculiar, at times hilarious film that pushes back against society’s standards of beauty. Part dark-comedy, sci-fi, body horror, even romance, it’s a movie that won’t fit neatly into any one genre. The pacing is a bit slow at times but it remains captivating throughout and there are plenty of metaphors to ruminate on during and after watching this. The message about ‘it’s who we are inside that counts’ can be such a cliché, but Schimberg’s bold, unflinching approach packs quite a punch.

Have you seen A DIFFERENT MAN? I’d love to hear what you think!

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