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After a devastating industrial accident leaves his face disfigured, engineer Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai) withdraws from society, allowing his bandages to become both a physical and psychological barrier to ordinary life. Unable to continue a normal life as tensions mount with his wife (Machiko Kyo) and colleagues, he turns to a psychiatrist (Mikijirō Hira) who proposes an artificial mask, claiming it can “fill the gap in the mind” as much as the face.

What follows is a perilous experiment in identity. As Okuyama adopts this new face, he begins to experience a disturbing sense of liberation. Freed from the constraints of his former self, he gradually tests the limits of morality. What begins as an experiment in reinvention soon spirals into a profound identity crisis, as the mask erodes the boundary between authenticity and performance.

Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara based on the 1964 novel by Kōbō Abe and perfected by a memorable waltz theme composed by Tōru Takemitsu, The Face of Another is a unique and chilling meditation on jealousy and freedom, social conditioning and isolation. Combining stark modernist imagery with philosophical inquiry, Teshigahara interrogates the power of anonymity, suggesting that masks do not always hide the self — in some cases, they may expose it.

Ages 15+ | Contains moderate themes