Film Review: "A Real Pain"

5 Stars

It’s been 15 years since actor Jesse Eisenberg broke onto the cinema scene: first in the cult classic Zombieland and then more famously portraying the founder of Facebook in The Social Network. The latter earned him nominations at the 2010 Golden Globes and Academy Awards and plucked him from obscurity.

Most performers would be content with a career cashing paychecks from studios and polishing their trophies, but Eisenberg has carved a different path, mixing occasional popcorn fare with fiercely independent films and projects (including most recently playing a humanoid beast in the brilliant Sasquatch Sunset).

In 2022, he went behind the camera for his directing debut with When You Finish Saving The World, a black comedy Eisenberg wrote and directed for A24 Films with lackluster results. In their review, The New York Times called it, “for better or worse, the film you would expect” from the multi-hyphenate actor and sometimes playwright.

True to form, Eisenberg soldiered on. And rather than abandon his directing career, he went back to the blank page and started working on the script that would become A Real Pain, his latest project earning him critical praise for his stints as screenwriter, director, producer, and co-star. I concur with all the accolades.

A Real Pain is a buddy comedy, of sorts, following two mismatched cousins reconnecting as they travel to Poland paying tribute to their family history after the death of their grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust. It’s delicate territory, but not the tragic narrative you might expect from a movie set against touring concentration camps.

That’s mainly because of the standout chemistry between Eisenberg and his co-star Kieran Culkin (himself another fascinating performer known mainly for his star turn in the recent series Succession).

Eisenberg plays David, a reserved, play-by-the-rules guy navigating his new life as a husband and father trying to stay safely between the lines. Culkin plays Benji, his wild-child counterpart who lives life spontaneously and feels everything profoundly. While connected by blood, the cousins are polar opposites in style and substance, and so each must adapt to the other while grieving the loss of their grandmother and reckoning with the pain of confronting the past.

As their trip continues, they build unexpected bonds with their tour guide and group—and ultimately each other. In this story, everyone processes the grief and the joy of the Human Comedy together. It’s an impressive accomplishment from an ensemble of performances that are often quiet, observant, and heartbreaking. Eisenberg has said parts of the film were inspired by his own family history.

The struggle to understand the past while savoring the present is real, and you will feel it here. What you will also experience, I think, is a story about honesty and inner lives told in a fascinating style that is effortless and fresh. Far from being indulgent, the film is fast paced and remarkably concise with a running time of just 1 hour and 30 minutes. Bravo.

It’s all very wonderful and unexpected and different, earning A Real Pain all the credit it deserves and creating much anticipation for what Eisenberg will dream up next.

Released by Fox Searchlight and rated R for adult language and the smoking of joints on Polish rooftops, A Real Pain is playing exclusively in theaters but expected to hit video-on-demand and streaming services in January 2025.

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