A Different Man: 'original and daring' film starring Marvel veteran Sebastian Stan
'Bleakly funny' satire explores the very different lives of two men with neurofibromatosis

"This bleakly funny New York-set fable" is about "acting, masks and, oh yes, the ultimate emptiness of the self", said Kevin Maher in The Times. Marvel veteran Sebastian Stan dons prosthetics to play Edward, a would-be actor with neurofibromatosis, a rare disorder that has left him disfigured by tumours.
At first, we see him shuffling around in "self-hating despair" – but his life starts to change when he meets Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), an attractive playwright who promises to write him a lead part; then, he is offered an experimental cure, raising the prospect of "romance and alleged normalcy". As his old face is graphically "ripped apart", to reveal Stan's square-jawed good looks, the stage seems set for a "handsome male success story" – but that is when this "original and daring" film "begins to get really devious".
Jumping forward in time, Edward has reinvented himself as "Guy", a successful estate agent with a "swish loft", said Deborah Ross in The Spectator. But when he reconnects with Ingrid, he discovers to his shock that she has gone ahead and written the play about his former self. And the part goes not to him, but to Oswald (the British actor Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis). Oswald's face is also covered in tumours, but he is everything Edward was not: "popular, funny, charming".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Director Aaron Schimberg has great fun with a film that is "part absurdist black comedy, part Kafkaesque dragon-punch to the soul, part Jekyll-and-Hyde morality tale", said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. Brilliantly anticipating "every ethical qualm you might have, and every artistic parallel you might spot", "A Different Man" doesn't just recognise life's "messiness – it makes it into a joyride".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
A guide to the Great Wall of China
The Week Recommends Experience this architectural feat
-
What are blue slips and why does Trump want to end them?
Today's Big Question The practice lets senators block a president's judge and prosecutor nominees
-
What are 'freakosystems' and how are they affecting the planet?
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
A guide to the Great Wall of China
The Week Recommends Experience this architectural feat
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courts
The Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
The 5 best zombie movies of all time
The Week Recommends Ghouls feasting on flesh have been a staple of cinema for more than 50 years
-
Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid: 'more than just a novelty'
The Week Recommends Europe's first plug-in hybrid pickup is 'surprisingly agile'
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
7 travel fragrances that let you smell good on the go
The Week Recommends Spritz away!
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original