"Shrewd, and fantastic, and something all its own."
— Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times
"A Different Man is surreal and weird, yet also strangely compelling."
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
"A Different Man is at home in an emerging trend of dark, surrealist works."
— Drew Gillis, Drew Gillis AV Club
"An existential black comedy delivered with flair and a steady gaze — and two remarkable performances at its center"
— Ty Burr, Washington Post
"It’s a dark, hilarious, and deeply unsettling portrait of a disfigured man that’s also an unflinching mirror of a looks-focused industry."
— Jake Kring-Schreifels, The Film Stage
"A movie that’s about—and asks its lead to literally and figuratively wear—masks, A Different Man is a multifaceted meta mind-melter."
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
"Schimberg’s film is a blend of low-level sci-fi and mid-range body horror, though it’s body horror with a social conscience. It’s remarkable viewing,"
— Thom Ernst, Original Cin
"'A Different Man' is a fascinating exploration of humanity with Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson being a team I want to see reunite in other works."
— Kristen Lopez, TheWrap
"It's an absorbing ride, and Schimberg works with confidence and brio. On top of that his cast is so darned good, you want the story to go on and on."
— Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press
"Sebastian Stan is sorrowfully mesmerizing while Adam Pearson is a charismatic delight. A Different Man scratches, peels, and rips its way into solidifying itself as one of the year’s best films."
— Chris Sawin, Bounding Into Comics
"Part of what’s refreshing about “A Different Man,” though, is that it never condescends to Edward—never treats him as magical or noble, the way many films do in depicting characters with disabilities."
— Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
"Kafka-by-way-of-Kaufman... Schimberg is proving to be one of the great satirists working today. A high-wire marvel of hard questions hilariously siphoned through elliptical lunacy... Sebastian Stan has never been better"
— Jason Adams, Pajiba
"There’s some John Carpenter in this film, and some Woody Allen, and some John Cassavetes, and a healthy dose of Charlie Kaufman-style surreality. The result is shrewd, and fantastic, and something all its own."
— Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
"Schimberg may have concocted a madly inventive thought experiment, but to say that A Different Man merely deconstructs itself would miss how completely and satisfyingly it comes together. It’s a thing of beauty."
— Justin Chang, The New Yorker
"Schimberg thoughtfully mines existential questions of identity with touches of surreal and darkly comic introspection, offering a jazz-like riff on complex emotions inside an inventive and cleverly self-referential narrative structure."
— Brian Eggert, Deep Focus Review
"If you’re even remotely beguiled by the enigmatic rhythms and mystery-soaked visuals of David Cronenberg and David Lynch, then allow Aaron Schimberg’s surreal third feature to lure you into its gothic vision of New York City’s artistic underbelly."
— Tomris Laffly, Harper's Bazaar
"Schimberg’s film is a blend of low-level science fiction and mid-range body horror, though it’s body horror with a social conscience. It’s remarkable viewing, even as it distills its theme into a well-worn message of resilience that’s idealized rather than realistic."
— Thom Ernst, Original-Cin
"A Different Man prioritizes laughs over proselytizing. There is inherent humor in the absurdity of the situation—which takes a momentary detour near sci-fi territory during Edward’s transformation—but Schimberg wrings laughs out of deftly staged awkwardness (though, thankfully, not cringe)."
— Drew Gillis, The A.V. Club
"A Different Man is a major work—even as it shapeshifts from Cronenberg to Kaurismäki, developing into new territory at every turn, Schimberg never loses sight of his central questions: 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?"
— Katarina Docalovich, Paste Magazine
"Sebastian Stan Stan is tremendous, giving an award-caliber performance as two sides of his character's personality go to war with each other for control. No spoilers, except to say that A DIFFERENT MAN is that rare kind of movie: a psychological thriller that can lift you up with laughter and crush you flat with tears. It's truly something else."
— Peter Travers, ABC News
"The Kafkaesque reversal-of-fortune humor that follows — centered on how outgoing, beloved Oswald’s mere presence pours salt on Guy/Edward’s identity crisis — is as shrewdly conceived a comic bad dream as we’ve gotten since the heyday of 'Zelig'-era Woody Allen or Charlie Kaufman (whose film 'Synecdoche, New York' this feels like a cousin to)."
— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
