Edward (Sebastian Stan) is a facially disfigured man who leads a life of self-consciousness and awkward social encounters. His new neighbour Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) is an aspiring playwright, and for a moment it looks like he might have a chance at romance with her; alas, she rejects him. Soon after, Edward begins an experimental drug therapy that cures his affliction and allows him to assume a new identity. Years later, he discovers that Ingrid has written a play based on the two of them and decides to audition incognito. However, his bids at self-assurance are undermined by an extroverted stranger (Adam Pearson) who is exceedingly comfortable in his own skin.
Aaron Schimberg’s wicked satire dares to provoke responses as varied as anxiety, compassion, and amusement, often in combination rather than easy separation. Besides its finely calibrated plotting, evocative performances, and haunting imagery, A Different Man is distinguished by its resistance to easy classification: it embraces the ironies of comedy and the derangements of horror, but when all is said and done it stands defiantly alone.
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance, Berlin 2024
Media Partner
Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson
USA
2024
English
At Vancouver Playhouse
At The Rio
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Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Sebastian Stan, Aaron Schimberg
Producer
Christine Vachon, Vanessa McDonnell, Gabriel Mayers
Screenwriter
Aaron Schimberg
Cinematography
Wyatt Garfield
Editor
Taylor Levy
Production Design
Anna Kathleen
Original Music
Umberto Smerilli
Aaron Schimberg
Aaron Schimberg lives in New York, USA. He made two commercially disastrous features, but the second one, Chained for Life (2018), was well-received by critics. A Different Man (2024) is his third film.
Filmography: Go Down Death (2013); Chained for Life (2018)
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