A Different Man is a noir-inflected black comedy about the adage, popularized by Truman Capote and attributed to Teresa of Ávila, that more tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones. Indie filmmaker Aaron Schimberg’s third feature depicts an odd and volatile love triangle between two men with facial deformities and a woman who admires them both. The film is dazzling and dark fun even as it ultimately fails to live up to its full potential.

The protagonist is Edward (a strong Sebastian Stan in prosthetic makeup), a lonely youngish man who lives in a dilapidated New York apartment building. Edward has neurofibromatosis, which causes tumors that have severely distorted his face and made him ashamed of how he looks. His daily life entails constant indignity. Strangers startle and recoil when they see him or, conversely, feel entitled to a presumptuous familiarity — cornering him in bars to ask questions about his condition, lecturing him in hallways about maintaining a positive outlook, and the like.