| A- | Fantastic Fest 2024 |
The deepest film I’ve seen so far at the festival.
This movie was partially about perceptions, but more I think about the choices we make in our lives. The disfigurement was a misdirection; this film was really about all of us.
The script was very well written, with layers of reality (or what the characters are projecting as such) weaving in and out of each other. Marvelous.
I often say Sebastian Stan melts into every role because I usually don’t recognize him in movie trailers until the very end. And with the heavy makeup in the first half, this was of course even more true.
But his costar (Adam Pearson) had no SFX makeup, feeding into the interwoven reality aspect. Some quick research shows the script was written with him in mind, which if you see the movie you have to suspect is true. The writer/director had worked with Pearson before, and partially identifies with these issues because of his cleft palate. Their affinity and collaboration led to something quite sublime.
