A Different Man delights with a delicious paradox: take a character who feels outcast because of his looks, and then – voila. Melt away his differences. Would he suddenly fit in? Would his life instantly turn around? Or is “success” far more than skin deep?
New York writer-director Aaron Schimberg wants us to ponder if Edward is better off than he was before. We're caught between wondering if he's a victim of society’s need for normalcy – or a victim of his own victim complex.
With his third feature, Schimberg creates a tantalising fantasy with oodles to say about perception, identity and inner happiness. His dark comic story peers deep into how we deal with “otherness” in society – and how we often revert, in our private moments, to letting our exteriors define who we are inside.
The cherry on top? The scene when Edward’s tumours start loosening, and he literally begins peeling his face off in stringy strips. Whether real or imagined, it’s up there with cinema’s most memorably horrifying special FX.
Read our full review of A Different Man at good.film: https://good.film/guide/a-different-man-literally-strips-away-how-we-look-at-disfigurement