Oh my friend, you haven't changed a bit
Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2024
#17 : A Different Man
Part sci-fi, part body-horror, part darkly comedic satire, part identity drama, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man refuses to be put in a box. It follows Edward (Sebastian Stan, in just one of his excellent performances this year, the other in Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice), an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis. Isolated, stared at by those around him living in a shitty apartment and struggling to find meaningful roles, he undergoes a procedure to cure him, revealing a brand new face underneath. But despite his newfound, conventionally-beautiful looks, his unhappiness persists – compounded by the introduction of the charming Oswald (Adam Pearson, never better) into his life. A strange, funny, twisted, thought-provoking delight, it’s a miracle a film this undefinable exists – but we’re incredibly glad it does.
I'd not heard of this until I read various end-of-year lists where it was often praised in a "well that was unexpected" kinda way - like Empire does above. I did see a clip which showed Adam Pearson in fine form, so I'm quite looking forward to watching this - if somewhat perplexed as to what I'm going to get (and Empire hasn't exactly helped above, has it?).
It has, however, provided an accurate summary of the plot - up to a point. It's also correct that this film is undefinable - it's a most peculiar film indeed. It's like a version of Beauty And The Beast, told from The Beast's point of view but the transformation doesn't result in the happiness that is hoped for - and then things get weirder. It's populated by a very curious characters who behave in unexpected ways, often in a way that doesn't elicit your sympathies. Parts of it are also very unsettling - particularly Edward's transition, which is both physically impressive and surprisingly tense (and well acted by Sebastian). It also has a VERY strange ending - you're never going to see it coming.
Sebastian Stan is very good in this - it's certainly not your average leading man role. His prosthetics in the first part of the film are impressive - particularly when compared to Adam Pearson for whom no prosthetics are required. Adam's also great in this as Oswald - he's charming and vivacious and plays really nicely off Edward's discomfort (and he wears some great outfits!). And Reinate Reinsve as Ingrid also gets called out as very good, putting in a very natural performance, likeable whilst still having flaws - which is remarkably similar to what we saw from her last time.
I have to admit I was pretty confused by a lot of this film - amusingly, Wikipedia describes it as having "an occasionally tenuous narrative grasp" and they are so not wrong. I'm not sure what it was trying to say - maybe something about physical and inner beauty and art imitating life, but I'm not 100% sure. It feels like it's trying to say something important to me, but I suspect I'm just not clever enough to understand any of it.
A lot of that is to do with the combination of genres it uses throughout the film, along with random scenes that don't really fit into any genre - David Lynch sprung to mind in several places. One quite important conversation between two characters is held across a corridor where someone keeps needing to walk between them - there's no reason for it to happen that way. The film often has a very lo-fi style - it feels a bit like.a home movie for a lot of the time, with the camera making some odd jerky movements for no obvious reason (although I'm sure it all makes sense in Aaron Schimberg's head).
I have a couple more takeaways from the film. Firstly, I was impressed at how terrible they made Edward's apartment. It has a massive hole in the celiing which is always letting in water (despite the fact that he doesn't live on the top floor). It also, for no obvious reason, has other random things that fall out of it, often onto Edward who never seems to learn not to look into it! And secondly, I was really not expecting to see a full-frontal nude shot of Sebastian!
So - did I like it? Hmmm - tricky one. I can't say I particularly enjoyed it but, as a piece of film-making, there's a lot to admire about it and it features some great performances. Additionally, even though I was often massively confused by it, it did make me think about what I thought it was trying to say and, as a follow-up, what I thought about the things that I thought it was trying to say. So, all in all, I think Empire got it right with "a strange, funny, twisted, thought-provoking delight, it’s a miracle a film this undefinable exists – but we’re incredibly glad it does". If you fancy something a bit different, then it's available to rent in all the usual places.
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