Title – A Real Pain (2024) 

Director – Jesse Eisenberg (When You Finish Saving the World) 

Cast – Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey

Plot – Cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Culkin) embark on a holocaust tour in Poland in the wake of their beloved grandmothers death. On this life-affirming tour past and present grievances will come to light while the two cousin’s many differences threaten to drive a wedge in their at times uneasy friendship.   

“We stay moving, we stay light, we stay agile”

Review by Eddie on 31/01/2025

Proving once and for all that he’s more than Mark Zuckerberg or that funny awkward guy from Zombieland, indie star Jesse Eisenberg’s second stint behind the camera might not be a ground-breaking affair but its a highly enjoyable one and one that is sure to place co-star Kieran Culkin’s name down in the record books at the upcoming Oscars. 

A small character study dramedy centred around mismatched cousins and long term friends David and Benji Kaplan, who embark on a trip back to their grandmothers home country of Poland and join in on a guided holocaust tour, A Real Pain is an undoubtedly familiar feeling experience that shares DNA with countless other small-scale films of the same nature but thanks to Eisenberg’s deceivingly deep script and Culkin’s scene-stealing Succession infused turn as the complex and wise-talking Benji, Pain stands slightly above the common pack to become more noteworthy and memorable than one might expect. 

One of the most glaring cases in the last few years of one actor towering over everything else around them and the film they are a part of, Culkin’s domineering performance here is unarguably one of 2024’s most noteworthy cases of an actor elevating to a whole different level and while there’s a lot of Roman Roy in the not always loveable but somehow engaging Benji, Culkin really does unlock a side to himself as a performer we didn’t expect and is well and truly deserving of his likely Best Supporting Actor award come the Oscar’s ceremony in the near future. 

It’s not to say those around Culkin aren’t on fine form either, Eisenberg is as good as his been in years as the far more reserved and softly spoken David and his monologue at a group dinner is Pain’s true centrepiece moment while co-stars such as Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’s Jennifer Gray ensure this is an all-round film that just so happens to be overshadowed by the omnipotent force that is Culkin at the height of his unique sensibilities and acting powers.

While slight in the grand scheme of things, there also has to be credit paid to Eisenberg’s approach here as a director with his infusion of many poignant and carefully approached  musings on the past traumas of Poland, Europe as a whole and the Jewish race during the World War 2 period never heading towards mawkish territory, ensuring Pain is a fine examination of the human condition while also exploring real world traumas and history that deserve to be looked into. 

Final Say – 

Likely to become a favourite of the 2024 crop of features for many and a well-liked experience for most others, A Real Pain is absolutely the Kieran Culkin show but there’s more to Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore feature than its likely Oscar winning supporting performance. 

3 1/2 stones out of 5