A24’s New Face
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Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
A Feature Cover Story on A24’s A Different Man features an exclusive interview with the director, who made me question how I see myself.
In The Industry News, Apple’s new femme fatale, Lionsgate, gets into bed with AI and Sony’s Valentine’s Day serial killer movie.
Actor Spotlight: Elijah Wood goes Swiss Army Man, and A24 hops into Shark Tank.
Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, Zach Cregger (dir: Barbarian) can’t get a Clue.
International News, Netflix launches quartet of Brazilian films and France’s surprise Oscar submission.
Let’s go!
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Our self-image is shaped by how people see us.
That crippling notion is the territory of A24’s latest horror, A Different Man.
The movie tracks a struggling actor (Sebastian Stan) who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery but ends up on a myopic path of self-destruction.
I sat down with director Aaron Schimberg at the A24 office to understand his perspective on the supposedly unattainable idea of self-acceptance.
Schimberg recounted:
“The film is about our self-definition and how we keep our sense of self in the face of other people's judgment, especially if other people's judgments is negative overall. If everybody finds you defective or hates you, how do you maintain your dignity, in the face of that.”
Each act of the film plays with this notion as Sebastian Stan shifts how he views himself. His face, just like his identity, is a malleable entity that is simply a reflection of those around him.
The beautiful irony of all this is that Stan’s new physical attractiveness brings a wave of people to connect with him but only on the most superficial of levels.
At the start of the second act, he trades real friends for fake colleagues.
The lauding of his new looks leads to immense self-loathing because he is not valued in a deep and meaningful way.
Schimberg expanded:
“The way we judge others is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves. So if you hate somebody, you're projecting in some way. So I literalized that in the film, Edward (Stan) is looking at Oswald (Adam Pearson). And we know what he's thinking about, he's thinking about himself. To me it was a Trojan horse for how we think about disfigurement.”
The film shows us that we can escape the hall of mirrors that society holds up if we can find self-acceptance.
We set ourselves free—no masks needed.
For More:
A24’s A Different Man opens today, September 19th. Check out the trailer here.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Jon Watt's Disney Deal: Jon Watts (Wolfs, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and his company, Freshman Year, have signed a first-look feature deal with Disney. This one is kind of a given with Spiderman’s billion-dollar success and Watt's involvement in Star Wars Skeleton Crew, among other projects. Disney can't let him get away.
Apple, following a series of highly competitive negotiations, has landed new femme fatale thriller, Off Season, headlined by Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman, 2020) also producing through her Aluna Entertainment.
There is no director yet attached and all that has been announced regarding the plot is that it will take place “in a luxury resort on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera”.
Following its recent premiere at TIFF, Kirby can be seen next in Ron Howard’s star-studded thriller, Eden. Apple has a slew of projects lined up with their next Clooney-Pitt action comedy, Wolfs, premiering this Friday, Sept. 20th, in theaters.