A heartfelt dramedy road trip that blends sensitive history, humour, and authentic performances into a moving cinematic experience.
Jesse Eisenberg stars in and directs, A Real Pain, a movie about two cousins who travel to Poland on a heritage tour and to visit their Grandma’s (a holocaust survivor) house. It’s a buddy-road dramedy heavy on the drama and light on the comedy. It’s an experience they want to subject themselves to, to pay homage to their ancestors. Even the humour comes with the awareness that terrible events took place once at these sights. As someone actually related to a holocaust survivor, A Real Pain must be intense.
Much respect to Jesse Eisenberg for treating such sensitive subject matter with deft, personality and relatability. His script is a genuine piece of art that must be preserved for posterity. The direction and photography dissolve with the script creating a mellow and thoughtful mood. To counter the mellowness, Eisenberg (whether intentionally or not) created a livewire character in the form of Benji (Kieran Culkin).
But Benji is charming too. He has that rare ability to connect with everyone he meets. Salespeople practice to perfect this skill. To Benji, it comes naturally. Meeting the rest of the tour group the first time, Benji connects with them, and by the end of the tour, forms a place in their hearts and minds. Cinema’s greats say that filmmaking is 85-90 percent casting. Keiran Culkin as Benji proves that point as while watching the movie, a better actor doesn’t come to mind to play this refreshing character. This is a heartbreaking performance, deserving of your attention.
The casting is impeccable throughout. Everyone on the tour is on a unique journey of self-exploration and the actors perform their roles with maturity. Like Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), a survivor of the Rwandan genocide who converted to Judaism; Marcia (Jennifer Grey), a newly divorced Californian; and James, their knowledgeable and empathetic tour guide are all written and performed with individuality. In one scene, Benji challenges the group on the absurdity of travelling first-class, in a train passing through once Nazi-occupied Poland on a Holocaust tour. But even with the more dramatic scenes like this one, the movie refrains from being performative and stays grounded in realism.
After watching A Real Pain, one is sure to add Poland to their list of travel destinations thanks to the movie’s superb photography. While the cinematography soothes, the story starkly reminds us of the power of being part of something bigger, no matter how painful it may be.
Eisenberg delivers an excellent cinematic experience, that is thoughtful, touching and one of 2024’s finest. Can’t wait to see his next piece of work!
Dave – ‘You still looking for a job?’
Benji – ‘Nah. So, you have to, like, work the whole trip?’
Dave – ‘No. No, no. I was able to take the week, like, completely free. I wanna be here. I wanna be, like, you know, I want to be present.’
Benji – ‘Good, man. Excellent. You still, like, sellin’ shit online?’
Dave – ‘I mean, I don’t, like, sell used jerseys on eBay. I do, like, digital ad sales. Yeah.’
Benji – ‘Okay.’
Dave – ‘So, you know, when you see, like, an ad banner online?’
Benji – ‘Oh, yeah. God! I hate that shit.’
Dave – ‘Hey, come on.’
Benji – ‘No, no. I just mean, like, everybody hates that shit, you know.’
Dave – ‘Do they?’
Benji – ‘Yeah.’
Dave – ‘Well, that’s what I do. That’s my job. I sell those.’
Benji – ‘It’s cool. It’s cool, dude You’re making the world go around. It’s fine.’
Dave – ‘Yeah.’
Benji – ‘That’s not your fault. You’re just, like, part of a fucked-up system.’