'A Different Man' review: Offbeat, provocative film considers how a change of looks can alter one's identity

First “Uglies,” next “The Substance,” now “A Different Man.”

By pure strange coincidence, we’ve had three movies this month about people who believe that if they could miraculously change the way they look, it would completely alter the way people treat them — and it would make them feel so much better about themselves.

It’s writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s disturbing and offbeat “A Different Man” that leaves the deepest impression on me. This is a quirky and often bleak treatise designed to make us think uncomfortable thoughts about self-identity and how physical beauty can’t save your soul if you’re ugly inside. It’s a film that works almost too hard to surprise us; some late developments are so absurd they lessen the impact of the main story. Still, Schimberg is a unique talent who excels at delivering provocative work.

Sebastian Stan turns in arguably career-best work as Edward, who has a rare genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis that causes tumors to grow in the nervous system and into the skin and surrounding bone. Given the realities of his appearance, Edward has made the rather curious and self-limiting choice to pursue a career as an actor; to date, his first and only role is a small part in a cringe-inducing corporate training video about how to treat co-workers with facial disfigurements.

Edward lives in a grimy apartment complex where someone is always complaining about the noise, and neighbors grunt as they bump into you, and there’s a leak in his ceiling that grows bigger and blacker by the day — but things brighten when the attractive, free-spirited Ingrid (Renate Reinsve from “The Worst Person in the World”), an aspiring playwright, moves in next door. Like just about everyone else, Ingrid lets out a startled exclamation when she first sets eyes on Edward, but they become fast friends. Edward gifts her with his vintage, red typewriter, and Ingrid talks of one day writing a play with a role in it for her buddy Edward.

Now comes the “Twilight Zone” meets “Adaptation” meets “Beauty and the Beast” meets John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds” element. Edward agrees to undergo an experimental medical treatment that could literally transform his life — and sure enough, chunks of his face begin falling away, and he is able to peel away the tumors in gobs, in a scene that plays like “The Fly” on rewind. Edward now looks just like Sebastian Stan, i.e., he’s strikingly handsome. Now he can begin to live his life!

At this point, I thought “A Different Man” might become a skin-deep take on “Charly,” with Edward becoming globally famous and enjoying his new life before the process begins to reverse itself — but writer-director Schimberg has other (better) ideas. Edward makes the seemingly impulsive decision to tell his landlord that Edward killed himself, and he’s a family friend named Guy. Flash forward a bit, and Guy is running a successful real estate business, his gorgeous face beaming from billboards and subway ads. He’s living in a posh apartment, he’s popular with co-workers, and he’s having great success with the ladies. It’s all happening for Edward/Guy.

One day, Edward spots Ingrid on the street and follows her into the storefront theater where auditions are taking place for Ingrid’s play, which is based on her relationship with Edward. The heavy irony, of course, is that Edward was born to play Edward — but he no longer looks like Edward. (He doesn’t reveal his identity to Ingrid, who doesn’t recognize him.) Still, Edward manages to win the role and win the affections of Ingrid.

All is well and great, until a man named Oswald (played by Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis in real life) enters the picture. Oswald is everything Edward is not. He’s charming and charismatic and the life of the party, and he’s a much better actor than Edward. It’s not long before Oswald is given the lead in the play and becomes the leading man in Ingrid’s life, as Edward grows continually more resentful.

Much more transpires, but we’ll leave it there. With Pearson and Reinsve both doing vibrant and layered work and all three leads playing spectacularly well off one another, nobody in this story comes across as purely heroic, or even well-adjusted. This is not a story takes easy shortcuts or hands us heroes on a platter.

“A Different Man” has the look and feel of a 1970s indie film (though there is a fleeting reference to Lady Gaga that feels anachronistic). Even the futuristic medical equipment looks flimsy and dated, like a prop from “The Six Million Dollar Man.” Wyatt Garfield’s grainy, 16mm photography adds to that vibe. These choices contribute greatly help to present the film as a fable, a fantastical and dark tale of a man who is transformed into a prince of the city but is unable to change his rotten and twisted core.