Berlinale 2024: A Different Man
BERLIN
What does it mean to be different? At face value, Edward (Sebastian Stan under heavy prosthetics) sees himself as A Different Man: his face is marred by benign tumors and no one around him seems to even notice him, often mistaking him for others. His acting career is stagnant, relegated to roles in workplace edutainment, and his love life is non-existent. That is until he meets Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), an up-and-coming playwright fascinated by Edward’s physicality. Too bad that he undergoes a successful medical procedure that turns him into pretty-boy Sebastian Stan. Edward starts a new life under a new name, only to become obsessed with starring in Ingrid’s new play, in the role he was born to play.
A Different Man is a downright ingenious update to many stories about physical diversities, like Todd Browning’s Freaks or David Lynch’s Elephant Man. The character of Edward is a fascinating man: at first, there is sympathy for him due to his appearance, a societal outcast maybe due to how he looks. However, as the film progresses, it becomes clear that Edward is, to put it bluntly, not a good person. He treated his deformed face as a mask, a shield against the ugliness of the world, but his new, “normal” face does not bring the confidence and success he was hoping for. If anything, his transformation into Sebastian Stan (perfectly cast here, as his facial qualities are beloved by many fans worldwide) is nothing more than another mask, and he soon realizes that maybe, just maybe, he should have embraced who he was after all.
The biggest conflict comes in the form of Oswald, played by Adam Pearson of Under the Skin fame. An actor with actual neurofibromatosis, he slowly starts to infiltrate Edward’s life, first by witnessing rehearsals of the play, and later taking over the role and seducing Ingrid. While other films would treat Oswald as an insidious, malevolent presence, he is the total opposite here: everyone loves Oswald! Pearson has immense charisma here, owning every single second he is on screen with funny quips, a confident stride, and a lovely personality. He is everything that Edward wants to be, yet his hatred towards himself and those who surround him starts to chip away at his sanity.
With plenty of laughs and food for thought, A Different Man instantly enters the pantheon on films about diversity, with a narrative that is actually progressive and very self-aware of how it could have felt exploitative of Pearson and others with physical deformities. Sharply written, delightfully acted, and constantly surprising, it is bound to make many reflect on their own identity and personality in contemporary society, with a reminder that how we act is ultimately more important than how we look.