Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Here we are, three weeks into January, and the Sundance Film Festival has delivered what promises to be the year’s most uncomfortable date movie: a grubby New York-set fable about a facially distinctive actor (modeled on Adam Pearson) who undergoes an experimental procedure that leaves him looking like Sebastian Stan — presumably an improvement, until he realizes that under the skin, he’s still the same miserable loser.

The kind of oddball satire only indie studio A24 would dare to produce, Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” asks what it means to be “normal,” and whether, if we could wave a magic wand and “correct” those qualities that set us apart, that’s really something we’d want. “Twilight Zone”-level weird at times, “A Different Man” suggests the bizart-house version of a Woody Allen movie, wherein traditional jokes have been axed in favor of long, cringe-inducing scenes between a nervous shlub named Edward (Stan, disguised to the point of unrecognizability) and the out-of-his-league neighbor on whom he has a crush (Renate Reinsve of “The Worst Person in the World”).

If you’ve seen Schimberg’s previous feature, “Chained for Life,” or Jonathan Glazer’s out-there “Under the Skin,” then you’re already familiar with Pearson, a British actor whose unique appearance — the result of a condition called neurofibromatosis, incorrectly associated for years with “Elephant Man” Joseph Merrick — made him just right for a handful of incredibly specific film roles.

Now comes Edward, the character Pearson was born to play. Except Schimberg casts Stan instead, hiding him behind an elaborate mask for much of the film.

‘A Different Man’ Review: Is Sebastian Stan the Right Person to Play This Part? You Decide in Daring A24 Drama

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