Sebastian Stan is a busy guy these days, as he’s set to reprise the role of Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in next year’s MCU blockbuster Thunderbolts*, and he’s portraying Donald Trump in The Apprentice. Before that hits the 2024 movie calendar, however, Stan will play Edward, a man with neurofibromatosis, in A24’s A Different Man. Critics have seen the movie ahead of its wide release to theaters, and while the trailer gave us a peek at the actor’s transformation, it really is what’s underneath that has them calling both Stan and Adam Pearson’s performances “endlessly complex.”
Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, this dark comedy sees Edward undergo surgery to become more conventionally attractive, changing his name and starting a new life. He then becomes fixated on Oswald (Adam Pearson), who also has neurofibromatosis, after he’s cast to play Edward in a stage production. In CinemaBlend’s review of A Different Man, Nick Venable rates the movie 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling the film “unwaveringly magnificent” and praising the performances of Stan and the scene-stealing Pearson. He writes:
A film that feels at times like a Denis Villeneuve psycho-thriller and at other times like the majestic apex of Mr. Show sketches, this is a must-watch movie that truly defies any and all of my comparisons with its singular nature. (What other awards-bound 2024 movie features a moment straight out of a Looney Tunes short?) There's no one else quite like Adam Pearson, and there's nothing else quite like the twisted hilarity of A Different Man.
Jacob Hall of SlashFilm says he’s never seen anything quite like A Different Man, which he calls a “pitch black oddity.” Adam Pearson’s performance is “revolutionary,” Hall says, while Sebastian Stan is astounding. The critic gives the film a 9 out of 10 and says:
Stan, always an interesting actor, confirms any suspicions that he's actually a powerhouse as he navigates a labyrinth of tricky emotions. It's an endlessly complex performance, even as we learn that Edward is perhaps not as complicated as we initially thought. It's a performance that finds the nuance and layers in someone who initially requests the benefit of the doubt but slowly, painfully reveals that cinema has trained our expectations, and that we misplaced them. It's a towering leap of faith for Stan, the kind of performance an actor gives when they surrender themselves entirely and hope the movie can capture them. A Different Man doesn't just catch him — it allows him to soar, even when it's relishing his character's brutal, hilarious plummet.
Katarina Docalovich of Paste also has high praise for the movie, rating it an 8.8 out of 10. The critic describes A Different Man as “an exhilarating blend of body horror, dark comedy, sci-fi and romance,” and credits Aaron Schimberg with continuously making the audience ask questions of themselves. Docalovich continues:
What makes us who we are? What does it mean to be a good person in this weird but beautiful world, surrounded by other people? Without providing precise answers, or resorting to the tired old cliché of ‘beauty is not skin deep,’ Schimberg throws us in a new direction. There are always large objects falling out of the ceiling, and people loudly pounding down the door. Much like life, once you get comfortable in the rhythm of A Different Man, Schimberg shoves you out of your seat and forces you to question what you thought you knew about yourself and those sitting next to you.
Stephanie Zacharek of Time calls Sebastian Stan “terrific” in his portrayal of two different sides of Edward, while an off-the-charts Adam Pearson “swaggers through the movie like its dazzling, unofficial mayor.” The performances are absolutely worth the ticket price, even as the plot gets a bit muddled. The critic says:
The ideas embedded in A Different Man, written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, hover somewhere in the milky middle between being too amorphous and too obvious, though by the end, you will most certainly have gotten the point. Yet this is a movie in which the performers make all the difference—the actors embody the ideas so wholly that the messages layered into the script are just superfluous embroidery. It’s worth seeing A Different Man for the two performances at its heart, given by Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan.
Germain Lussier of Gizmodo says the upcoming A24 movie delivers a strong message, with its star giving a masterclass on acting. Lussier continues:
A Different Man is sad, funny, awkward, dark, and fascinating. The actors each give incredible performances but Stan in particular dazzles, first as Edward, then as Guy, then as Guy who wishes he was Edward again. It’s a wild trajectory for a very original movie that you won’t soon forget.
The movie is out in limited release and has been declared Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 85%. A Different Man will see a wide release starting on Friday, October 4, and if these critics’ reactions are any indication, Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson are worth checking out.
