We’re pretty big fans of Sebastian Stan, especially when he steps out of the MCU and does the kind of dramatically strange shit that has fully endeared him to us. From Fresh to Pam and Tommy, the guy is willing to immerse himself in weirdness, using his looks as a ruse to do truly bizarre things (compared to a lot of other actors of his stature).
So it was with a heavy heart that we missed his apparently brilliant work in Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man when it premiered at Sundance back in January. Thankfully, A24 picked it up prior to the festival even starting, so, in due time, we’ll get a chance to see this psychological thriller — about an actor who undergoes face surgery and finds his world unraveling soon after — on the big screen. They dropped a trailer for it recently, and we’re stoked to see more.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis from the 2024 Sundance program:
“Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his 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 with reclaiming what was lost.
Writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s latest film is a surreal, singular tale of one man’s desire to self-actualize. Sebastian Stan is Edward, a man overcome by the reality of his appearance, intent on curing his alienation and transcending his self- and socially enforced artistic potential. Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve carefully embody foils to Edward’s ambition, an artistic and philosophical juxtaposition of his, and our, conceits.
Through a haunting score and folkloric magical realism, a unique psychological thriller emerges. A stylish vision of the theatrical currents of New York stages a universe where reality and fiction blend in beautiful ways; where lies, expectations, and internal turmoil weave a man’s consequentially incipient senses of truth and becoming. ‘A Different Man’ is a reflexive allegory for the modern tortured artist, a subversive, gothic fairytale that deftly begets obsession.”
A Different Man hits theaters on September 20.