Edward Lemuel is a socially awkward struggling actor with neurofibromatosis that manifests as a disfiguring facial condition. He befriends his new neighbor Ingrid Vold, an aspiring playwright, but is too nervous to act on his romantic feelings towards her. He secretly undergoes an experimental medical treatment to cure him of his condition. Seeing that it has worked, he assumes the identity of "Guy Moratz" and claims that Edward has killed himself, instead of continuing to report to his doctors.
Some time later, "Guy" is now a wealthy and successful real estate agent. One day, he discovers that Ingrid is producing Edward, an off-Broadway play that she has written based on his life. Using an old cast mask of his original face that was given to him by the doctors, he uses it to audition and is cast in the lead role after some initial questioning from Ingrid. Edward and Ingrid begin a sexual relationship soon thereafter, though Ingrid remains unaware of the truth of his identity. During rehearsals, they are visited by Oswald, a man with neurofibromatosis who has taken an interest in the play. The confident and charismatic Oswald quickly befriends the cast and crew, although Edward is perturbed by his outgoing demeanor. One night, Ingrid asks Edward to wear the mask during sex; he hesitantly obliges until she abruptly laughs it off as "fucked up."
Ingrid and Oswald grow closer, and after Edward is unable to memorize his lines, she decides to recast Oswald in the lead role and make rewrites based on Oswald's feedback. The play is a success, and Oswald's performance receives rave reviews. Edward's mental state begins to deteriorate: he begins stalking Oswald, erratically starts acting like Oswald using the mask, and is fired from his real estate job. He eventually storms the stage of the play one night to physically attack Oswald. During the scuffle, part of the set falls on Edward, breaking his legs and arms. While he recovers from his injuries, he moves back into his former apartment next to Ingrid, who is now living with Oswald and making plans to adapt Edward into a film with Michael Shannon in the title role. One day, after Edward's physical therapist expresses disgust for Oswald, Edward stabs him and is jailed.
Years later, an aged Edward once again encounters Oswald. He has dinner with Oswald and Ingrid, now a married and highly successful creative duo who are planning their retirement to a commune in Canada. They reveal that the Edward film adaptation fell through and the two look back on the play with disdain. A waiter arrives to take their orders, but a visibly nervous Edward struggles to choose from the menu. Oswald jokes that Edward has not changed a bit.
A Different Man was announced in June 2022, with Aaron Schimberg set as writer and director. Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, and Adam Pearson were also announced as the leads, with Christine Vachon, Gabriel Mayers and Vanessa McDonnell set as producers.[1]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 166 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Surreal and unsettling, A Different Man overcomes an occasionally tenuous narrative grasp by virtue of its bold, provocative approach to serious themes."[15]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[16]
