The 2024 movie schedule could be a huge victory for actor Sebastian Stan. Currently in a gap year before his return to the MCU in the upcoming Marvel movie Thunderbolts*, the man has two high-profile films on the docket: the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice and the A24 drama A Different Man. The latter film has now dropped its first trailer, and the results are so incredible and unrecognizable that Stan is already being hyped pretty heavily for awards consideration.
What People Are Already Saying About A Different Man
Both critical and public praise has been showered upon Sebastian Stan, who plays the role of Edward. Playing a man with neurofibromatosis, Stan's disfigured face is the result of the incredible makeup work you see above in the trailer. It only seems to have enhanced his portrayal of A Different Man’s protagonist, as further comments on A24's first trailer for the picture have added the following notes to the pile. See what a number of sentiments that fans left under the YouTube posting:
- “This is the performance we want from Sebastian Stan.” - @GGG08
- “Sebastian Stan better be getting some Oscar buzz for leading performance” - @pamelac81
- “I saw this movie at Sydney film Festival, It's absolutely incredible. Sebastian Stan proves his acting chops with this one.” - @Mamba_4_life8
- “Give my man Sebastian his Oscar already.” – @filmobsessednerd
- “Really glad for Sebastian that he's getting ACTUAL good, deep acting roles. He deserves it, and I just know he'll be amazing.” - @AnthsV
What’s perhaps more exciting is the recognition that co-star Adam Pearson has been getting upon the trailer’s release. Notable for his role in Scarlett Johansson’s Under the Skin, Pearson actually has neurofibromatosis and has been working to combat the stigmas and bullying people with the condition have encountered. And looking at his performance in A Different Man’s trailer, he represents where the true mind fuckery comes into play.
A Different Man Is Already Looking To Be "A Brilliant Mindfuck"
The upcoming A24 movie, written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, is also being praised by IndieWire as a “brilliant mind fuck of a movie;” and I can kind of see why. As if watching the trailer unfold for yourself wasn’t enough proof, here’s the official synopsis for A Different Man:
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.
As you can see, while Sebastian Stan’s post-transformation Edward seems to be on the rise as a conventionally handsome actor, Pearson’s character, Oswald, is primed to become a star in his own right. And, as we see in the synopsis, the “role he was born to play” is all it takes to send Edward spiraling into the bits of the film that we haven’t seen just yet.
That sounds like an amazing page from the Charlie Kaufman handbook of dark identity comedy. And that's even with the trailer coming off as a bit more dour in the execution. But that's probably part of why the groundswell of praise for A Different Man is so impressive, as it's inspired one of the earliest grassroots awards campaigns I've seen in a while.
In a year where the Fresh alum has both a dark comedy like this, and an investor displeasing picture like The Apprentice, the man was bound to be the talk of the town. Now that we've got a deeper look into just what's going on here, that buzz is definitely warranted; and has brought cast members like Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve into the limelight as well.
I, for one, cannot wait to see what the finished film looks like. Needless to say, the early buzz from fans not only suggests that Sebastian Stan could be in for some serious awards love but that the film as a whole could be as well.
A Different Man will be unveiled to the public at large in a rollout you’d expect for an A24 awards contender. The picture’s limited release will begin on September 20th, before it goes nationwide on October 4th. More than likely this film will hit streaming at some point in 2025, landing presumptively for those with a Max subscription. In the meantime, there's also plenty to watch if love Sebastian Stan.
