A Different Man (2024)
Directed by Aaron Schimberg
Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare.
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Beyond subversive humor similarities, many other parallels can be formed between A Different Man and certain iconic projects from David Lynch's dreamlike oeuvre, from the duality themes of Lost Highway and Twin Peaks to the outsider vibes of Eraserhead and The Elephant Man and beyond. I have no clue if that was intentional or not, but as a huge Lynch fan, I found it only added to my enjoyment and anticipation for each absurd moment in Edward's story.
The gonzo absurdity of this sequence calls to mind the mad denouement of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985) as well as images in David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) and Roman Polanski’s The Tenant (1976).
Beyond subversive humor similarities, many other parallels can be formed between A Different Man and certain iconic projects from David Lynch's dreamlike oeuvre, from the duality themes of Lost Highway and Twin Peaks to the outsider vibes of Eraserhead and The Elephant Man and beyond.
Still, the story's twists and turns maintain our interest throughout, with the narrative taking on a cleverly deconstructed play-within-a-film format reminiscent, at times, of Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York.
Schimberg brings in influences such as David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, Von Trier’s Dogville, and Melancholia, with a bit of Cronenberg’s sensibility.
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Character-wise, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Taxi Driver‘s Travis Bickle or Joker‘s Arthur Fleck, right down to his inability to properly pursue a crush on a neighbor, playwright Ingrid (Renate Reinsve).
At times in this first half, A Different Man almost reminds of the unrelenting oppressive nature of the world in Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, as we see the uncomfortable existence of Edward through his eyes and feel his constant struggle.
So while Edward is delighted to find that a free-spirited Norwegian beauty named Ingrid (“The Worst Person in the World” star Renate Reinsve) has moved into the apartment next door, his instant crush is tempered by the reality of the situation — a reality that persists even after she invites him inside and intimately squeezes out the blackheads on his nose.
Reinsve, the breakout star of the 2021 drama “The Worst Person in the World,” once again plays a fascinatingly flawed, somewhat selfish character: a woman who can be charming but also, at times, the worst. Reinsve’s ridiculous charisma keeps us watching, even when—or perhaps because—we suspect we can’t entirely trust her.
Reinsve, too, is as good as she was in her breakout, Joaquin Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, and brings a huge warmth to proceedings, but the stand-out is Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis himself.
“Twilight Zone”-level weird at times, “A Different Man” suggests the bizart-house version of a Woody Allen movie, wherein traditional jokes have been axed in favor of long, cringe-inducing scenes between a nervous shlub named Edward (Stan, disguised to the point of unrecognizability) and the out-of-his-league neighbor on whom he has a crush (Renate Reinsve of “The Worst Person in the World”).
A bright spot arrives in the form of his new neighbor Ingrid (The Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve): He’s an actor, she’s a playwright, and together, they strike up a warm friendship, even as Edward longs for something more.