Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson make a terrific double act in more ways than one in this arch sci-fi parable.
How to watch A Different Man in New Zealand
A Different Man is screening in New Zealand cinemas from October 24.
A Different Man
What is A Different Man about?
Our man Stan is Edward Lemuel, a down-at-heel New York actor with a condition called neurofibromatosis. An experimental medical procedure cures his condition (and leaves him looking like Sebastian Stan) and so he adopts a new identity, “Guy Moratz”, claims that Edward died by suicide, and starts a new life as a real estate agent.
Along the way he romances his former neighbour, playwright Ingrid Vold, scoring the lead role in her new work, which is based on her friendship with Edward. However, when the confident, charming Oswald comes along, who also has neurofibromatosis and doesn’t let it slow him down, Edward/Guy’s old insecurities begin to bubble to the surface.
The cast of A Different Man
Sebastian Stan is Edward Lemuel/Guy Moratz; Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) is Ingrid Vold; and Adam Pearson (Under the Skin), who has the condition in real life, is Oswald. Plus there’s C. Mason Wells, Owen Kline, Charlie Korsmo, Patrick Wang, and Mark Geller in support. This one comes to us from writer and director Aaron Schimberg, who also directed Pearson in 2019’s Chained for Life.
A Different Man trailer
Why we’re excited about A Different Man
Because it’s great, that’s why. It kind of works as a gender-inverted companion piece to The Substance, if you think about it, exploring similar themes about appearance anxiety, albeit coming to much less cynical conclusions. We’d call it a career-best turn from ol’ Sebby S, but he seems to get better with every film, and Adam Pearson is revelatory. It’s a banger.
