A Real Pain review – an amusing and compelling inquiry into human pain and suffering

Based on a trip he took to Poland with his own cousin, Jesse Eisenberg crafts a sensitive dramedy co-starring Kieran Culkin.

Trying to comprehend the root cause of pain and the depths of the human soul is an ambitious task. It’s one which writer, director and actor Jesse Eisenberg approaches with poignant reflection and laugh-out-loud humour as he traverses fractious political and personal history.

Eisenberg’s third feature film as writer/director takes on the form of an elegantly-composed road trip movie complete with Frédéric Chopin soundtrack. It’s a deeply personal journey across Poland that follows two cousins, Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg), who use an inheritance from their late grandmother to head on a group tour led by earnest guide James (Will Sharpe doing a fine Yorkshire accent). The rest of the group is made up of divorcee Marcia (Jennifer Grey from Dirty Dancing), Midwestern couple Diane (Liza Sadovy) and Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and a Rwandan-Canadian convert to Judaism, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan).

Eisenberg paid tribute to his family who were affected by the horrors of the Holocaust with a trip to Lublin, the former concentration camp Majdanek, and the place where his great-aunt lived in Kranystaw. In the film, the cousins visit the exact same locations. They also spend a lot of time getting high on hotel rooftops as a way to recapture their once close bond and survey the crisply shot (by cinematographer Michal Dymek) cityscapes and tourist spots. Just as the weed smoke hangs
heavy in the air, so too do pertinent questions about the cousins’ mysteriously-strained relationship.

With Benji, Eisenberg has written a very recognisable male character and Culkin’s performance is a  wonder to behold. His moods are unpredictable and his behaviour impulsive but he is also charming and funny. People may be occasionally shocked by his frankness, but they are also drawn to it. On the flipside, Eisenberg’s David is more collected even if he is neurotic, a little repressed and not as much fun to be around. The juxtaposition between the two men further explores the great void that can emerge when grief and trauma go unaddressed.

This is a film of many juxtapositions and complex layers. It deliberates the joy of living in the moment while also considering the consequences of actions. At one point the cousins take an unplanned detour on a train ride. It’s a moment that brings to mind the exhilarating romance of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, with the pair’s brotherly connection blossoming through risk- taking and the promise of adventure. A Real Pain may set out its stall as an empathetic tour of pain, effortlessly exposing the quiet and chaos of the human condition through its multiple characters and the places they visit, but it is also distinctly a film about the boundaries and limits of love.

Published 7 Jan 2025

Tags: Jesse Eisenberg Kieran Culkin