Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drasticallytransform his 好异appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare,as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed withreclaiming what was lost.Writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s latest film is a surreal, singular tale ofone man’s desire to self-actualize. Sebastian Stan is Edward, a man overcome bythe reality of his appearance, intent on curing his alienation and transcendinghis self- and socially-enforced artistic potential. Adam Pearson and RenateReinsve carefully embody foils to Edward’s ambition; an artistic andphilosophical juxtaposition of his, and our, conceits.Through a haunting score, Lynchian approach to story, and folkloric magicalrealism, a unique psychological thriller emerges. A stylish vision of thetheatrical currents of New York stages a universe where reality and fictionblend in beautiful ways; where lies, expectations, and internal turmoil weave aman’s consequentially incipient senses of truth and becoming. A Different Man isa reflexive allegory for the modern tortured artist; a subversive, gothicfairytale that deftly begets obsession.—CA