A Different Man

In Aaron Schimberg's insidious doppelgänger story, a New York actor with neurofibromatosis - a disease that covers his face with growths - suffers literal and figurative loss of face. The introverted Edward lives in a mouldy flat and is only allowed to appear in commercials because of his condition. Until, thanks to a radical medical procedure, he transforms into Sebastian Stan and has a chance at the role of a lifetime - only to be overtaken by a confident, charming Brit with exactly the same defect that wiped out Edward. Like its bitter protagonist, A Different Man changes guises. What begins as a romantic comedy evolves through all sorts of twists and turns - meandering smoothly from Cronenberg to Kaufman - into an ironic satire about how we see ourselves, about the balance between representation and exploitation, and about how even a new bodywork won't get the engine running.

Flagey, Film Fest Gent