THIS REVIEW IS PART OF BLITZ’S CONTINUED COVERAGE OF THE 71ST SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL, 5-16 JUNE. READ THE REST OF OUR REVIEWS HERE.
A Different Man is an A24 film shown at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival. This 2-hour-long endeavour is a dark (DARK) comedy directed by Aaron Schimberg, starring Sebastian Stan (Edward / Guy), Renate Reinsve (Ingrid), and Adam Pearson (Oswald).
Based on The Elephant Man, Sebastian Stans's character, Edward finds a miraculous cure for his facial disfigurement (neurofibromatosis). Only to meet Oswald, a man with the same facial disfigurement who seems to be living with his condition much, much better.
The most compelling thing about this film is the perspective the audience receives on the human condition. When we are first introduced to Edward - we meet a profoundly insecure character who is defined by his condition and how his physical appearance controls his life, from his relationship with Ingrid to his acting work as a disability actor. This identity is intrinsically linked to the view society holds on him. Living by the very serious philosophical quote, "All unhappiness in life comes from not accepting what it is” (Lady Gaga).
He then is offered a miracle cure for his physical condition, and the audience enters a psychedelic mix of him going through the motions. Now, Blitzians, I want to give you a bit of insight into my little life. This movie was my first time leaving the house in 5 days as I had been smashed with a double combo of gastro and the flu. I had driven half an hour and eaten a whole bucket of popcorn in 15 minutes. So to say I appreciated the nauseating montage of Edward ripping his face off would be the understatement of the year.
Also, please send a bouquet of flowers to Umberto Smerilli, the soundtrack creator of this film. The soundtrack made me feel on edge the whole time, and my vision started spinning after that.
Yet when Edward transforms into ‘Guy’, we realise that nothing has changed about him. Especially when we are introduced to Oswald, we see two characters who now present different aesthetic traits -completely different people. Guy, still limited by his insecurities, holds a successful yet unfulfilling real estate business and appears unfulfilled by his romantic relationships. While Oswald oozes self-confidence, floats between a myriad of hobbies and interests from Jiu Jitsu to Yoga, co-parents his daughter with his ex-wife and still manages to hold fulfilling romantic and platonic relationships.
via Sydney Film Festival
As Guy and Oswald become friends throughout the film's second act, we realise that Oswald is holding up a mirror to Guy's personality and insecurities. This dynamic evolves into resentment, as Oswald not only embodies Guy's insecurities confidently but also usurps his role in Ingrid's play and their relationship. Despite changing his physical appearance, Guy cannot escape his true identity.
Another fascinating aspect of the film was Ingrids's role in the whole narrative. I understand that Oswald is supposed to mirror Edward/Guy's insecurities. However, Ingrid's motives remain puzzling throughout the movie. Ingrid befriends Edward in the first act as an act of kindness/rebellion against her boyfriend. Yet when we meet Ingrid again in Act 2, we realise that she holds a warped view of Edward as a victim of his condition rather than seeing it as a part of who he is. Only when she sees Oswald does she realise that her portrayal of him in her play was reductive. Her whole ideology just weirds me out.
^ This meme was all I could think about Guy/Edward’s relationship with Ingrid. I am sure that Ingrid loved Edward or romanticised him, at the very least. But she couldn't care less about Stan’s character, Guy. He was used as a means to an end (the mask, iykyk).
The only deficit of the film would have to be its last 15-ish minutes, where we see Guy/Edward ultimately devolve and succumb to his insecurities - lashing out at Oswald and the people around him. As you settle into what this movie has become, the last 10 minutes slap you awake with a cold fish. For a film with such a strong premise and build-up, its third-act climax was visually exciting but narratively unfulfilling for the film's overall message.
Overall, A Different Man differed from the usual films about atypical-looking people in Wonder and The Elephant Man. By establishing pity and sympathy for its main character—only to weaponise it against the audience—, we realise that the obsession with self-image only hinders its characters, as some masks cannot be shed.
Madeline Kahl is a student from Sydney studying a double degree in Commerce and Media. As an avid reader she is most likely accidentally ghosting all her friends while crying about fictional characters.
