25/29
Filmed in 22 days during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown
Narrative
An aspiring actor undergoes a radical medical procedure to transform his appearance. But his new dream face soon turns into a nightmare.. [last lines; to Edward] Oswald: Oh, my friend, you haven’t changed at all.. Referred in Amanda the Jedi Show: The Best and Weirdest Movies You (Mostly) Haven’t Seen Yet | Love Lies Bleeding (2024).
Then he has a new neighbor
"Edward" (Sebastian Stan) is a facially disfigured man stuck in a run-down apartment whose life isn’t really going anywhere fast. "Ingrid" (Renato Reinsve) is a writer who befriends him and promises him a role in her play. Meanwhile, his doctors manage to put him on a radical course of treatment that gradually restores his face to a more normal face. Returning to his apartment, and with some rather grotesque things coming out of his leaky ceiling, he realizes that no one recognizes him anymore, so he has to assume another identity.
It’s his part
Then he discovers that "Ingrid" it is, indeed, a play—and that old “Edward”; is the title and subject. He wants the role. How to get it without giving the game away? Adding to his frustrations is the arrival of "Oswald" (Adam Pearson) who is a seemingly decent character but who also wants the part and has the aesthetic as opposed to the prosthetics.
Is this deserved or justified?
"Ingrid" has tough choices to make, but where could that leave ‘Edward’? There is something quite circular about the way this story unfolds. Kind of a be-what-you-wish-for kind of script that gives and takes away hope from “Edward”; and almost creates a villain of the piece too! The drama shines a light on the more superficial attitudes of society, our intolerances and assumptions, but also the fickleness of friendships, fame and success – all of which are presented in a rather engaging way by both Stan and Pearson.
It’s the ex-husband who positively oozes exasperation while the denouement (only vaguely) skirts the Chaplinesque
On that note, it’s worth saying that this is also quite funny at times – the writing doesn’t try to impose any morals on us, rather it presents us with a few scenarios and allows us to enjoy and evaluate as we go. It doesn’t hold back and from the beginning we start as characters develop, personalities emerge – for better or for worse and it’s worth a few hours in a cinema. I got more out of it the second time around as I was able to focus a bit more on the shade than the images.