A Different Man

2024

Comedy / Drama / Thriller

71
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 93% · 191 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 36891 36.9K

new york city identity transformation dark comedy pity playwright

Director

Aaron Schimberg Photo
Aaron Schimberg

Top cast

Sebastian Stan Photo
Sebastian Stan as Edward
Renate Reinsve Photo
Renate Reinsve as Ingrid
Michael Shannon Photo
Michael Shannon as Self
Marc Geller Photo
Marc Geller as Ragged Man
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB.x265 2160p.WEB.x265
1.01 GB
1280*690
English 2.0
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 18
2.07 GB
1920*1036
English 5.1
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 43
1.01 GB
1280*694
English 2.0
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 35
2.06 GB
1920*1040
English 5.1
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 100+
1.87 GB
1920*1040
English 5.1
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 41
4.98 GB
3840*2080
English 5.1
R
Subtitles us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 28

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by YARDCG 6 / 10

An initially highly promising film which peters out in its second half.

Simply put, it just feels like a cheap shot when the film begins by presenting the undeniable struggles of the main character's life and has him pursue a cure for completely understandable reasons - and then effectively turns around and says "Actually, all of the problems in his life were his fault, he didn't really get better in ways which matter after that, and let us present a totally idealized version of someone with the exact same condition to prove why.""Accept yourself for who you are and do not seek external fixes" message might come from the right place, but it is not so inspiring when his condition was effectively shown interfering with something as important as his eyesight and generally affect his quality of life even when nobody was watching.Furthermore, this film also exhibits the same contrivance which brought down Challengers for me - the insistence that like a duckling, the lead MUST imprint onto the first remotely meaningful relationship shown in the narrative and fail to form anything offscreen even when all the conditions are there for it. It is worse here when that relationship effectively comes from a combination of pity and fetishism - as the film is at least honest enough to acknowledge.For all of that, the first half is very strong in its depiction of the grime of main character's life, reinforced in a variety of unusual ways like the PSA he is part of. Even the second half has enough neat moments - whether in digging down to the details of stage productions or other smaller twists and turns - to avoid ever feeling like a total loss.I suppose one reason I'm so disappointed is because this could have been a remarkable narrative of a climber who benefited from the system (in this case, the research breakthrough turning him into "A Different Man") only to pull up the ladder behind him for entirely selfish reasons. Instead, the film pretends the climb was never worth it in the first place and stalls around various meta layers instead of developing the point.
Reviewed by Agent10 8 / 10

A Layered Look at Identity

Much like Sebastian Stan's character Edward, for many years I was always the person that looked like another person. There was always a caveat of course, where it seemed like the person I supposedly looked like seemed more interesting, outgoing and well known amongst these groups. This parallel with my life and the film instantly drew me in.It's intriguing this film came out so close to another film centering around identity, that being The Substance. Where the satire and in your face boldness of that film will define its legacy, A Different Man's approach is much more pensive and sad. It reflects the unique challenges of men and women, where women are judged for their outward appearance and sex appeal, while men are judged more for their success and charisma (though sex appeal does play a part in this film). Edward feels held back and embarrassed by his appearance, and fails to see his worth in a society bent on looks and stature. What he doesn't realize is that his inner self is interesting and complex, but he can't harness that power in him. Even when he is conventionally attractive, he is still the same nervous, awkward person. He acts how he thinks he should act in this role, rather than be himself. This is what makes the introduction of Oswald so interesting.Oswald is aggressive, pushy, and dare I say diabolical. While his outward features should be a setback in his life, his confident and charismatic personality makes him the perfect foil for Edward. He is powerful in ways that Edward can only pretend to be, pushing him out of a play about his own life, stealing his love interest and earning the love and admiration that Edward felt deprived of. Edward is so weak and overwhelmed that he once again tries to pretend to be something he is not on top of his false persona. Edward never truly accepted his true self, and it eventually leads to some troublesome outcomes for him.I definitely think this film is going to hit a lot of men quite hard, the reviewer included. With all of the discussions about what is masculinity or what even defines a man, it's difficult being our true selves due to the fear of being judged by mythical standards. Is the fact I never went to war not make me a man? Is the fact I am overweight and broken make me less than a man? People forget the pressures men feel in modern society, and we just turn off and sometimes disappear into the woodwork. Suicide and death are approached subjects in this film, and much like in reality, they are brushed aside.I was definitely intrigued by this film, for we rarely see true deconstructions of the male psyche where the character doesn't do a complete 180 on their life and become a confident Casanova or something, or saves the day like every man wishes they can do. The reality is, most of us just exist and hope things turn out for the best. I did wish the movie had addressed the elephant in the room, which was trying to portray a story about a physically handicapped person without making them a victim. I think they expertly dealt with that subject with some meta commentary at the end. I don't think they wanted that subject to overrun the story, but they at least addressed the issue. In retrospect, they handled it as best as they could.
Reviewed by mesaxi 7 / 10

Good, but overhyped

I enjoyed A Different Man, but it fell a little bit short of my expectations because there was so much hype surrounding it. It was good, a very A24 type movie, but not the kind of movie I'll be revisiting very often.Sebastian Stan is great, but I never admire an actor who has the task of playing a bad actor. He manages to pull it off well, while also doing some solid acting aside from that. Renate Reinsve also had the unfortunate task of playing an unlikeable character, which just seems to be her resume, but again she did well. It's hard to actually rate Adam Pearson as he is such a unique actor and the role was a little bit overbearing, but I certainly enjoyed his performance.The story felt a little like Adaptation. (2002) at times and even a bit like The Shout (1978). I'm not quite sure how I feel about it on the whole yet, as the ending was somewhat interoperative. It's a movie that will take some digestion so my rating may change later.
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