Jesse Eisenberg’s heartfelt “A Real Pain” asks viewers to own their emotions | The Triangle
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Jesse Eisenberg’s heartfelt “A Real Pain” asks viewers to own their emotions

Jan. 31, 2025
Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

In the hectic rush of day-to-day life, it can be easy to forget to stop, take a breath and talk about what truly matters. In fact, even when one does find the opportunity, it is not always easy to find the courage to say what one honestly feels, especially in social situations where it can seem like being too open could make things uncomfortable. Anyone who has experienced such feelings is likely to find themselves resonating with the characters in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain.”

Eisenberg’s sophomore directorial feature — now streaming on Hulu — tells the story of two Jewish American cousins, David (Eisenberg himself) and Benji (Kieran Culkin). The narrative follows them traveling to Poland for a tour of the history of the Holocaust after the recent death of their beloved grandmother, who had been a survivor of the concentration camps. During the trip, the cousins also hope to steal some time to visit her old home in Poland, all as they attempt to reconcile with their history and grapple with their emotional baggage.

The sharp, crisply paced screenwriting — Eisenberg’s Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars is incredibly well-deserved — instantly establishes a clear contrast between the cousins’ personalities. The affection they have for each other is evident, yet it is also clear that they are often not on the same wavelength. Benji is a person who wears his heart on his sleeve and refuses to wear any filters, saying the things that many might often think but resist saying out loud in favor of social etiquette. David falls into the latter category, being more orderly, socially inhibited and conscious of not disturbing the peace. As they join the tour group, their opposing approaches to social interaction lead to a volatile dynamic within the group that brings their emotions to the fore.

Benji’s blunt honesty is portrayed with a humorous touch. One might think that this runs the risk of undercutting the significance of the topics being discussed, but remarkably, the humor actually underlines it, often bringing the viewer face-to-face with the absurd irony of a situation. This use of humor strikes a remarkably deft balance between lightening up the narrative and getting viewers to meaningfully engage with its themes. Many scenes and lines create a feeling of acute second-hand embarrassment, but they then proceed to make the viewer question what exactly they are feeling embarrassed about to begin with. It is all too common to feel afraid of speaking one’s heart out in fear of being the minority, but the film conveys that there is no capacity for empathy or change if one fears expressing a different opinion.

The film makes subtle yet pointed commentary about how the remnants of Nazism, and by extension, colonialism, continue to be present in people’s lives. Yet the ways of the world lead many to force themselves to “move on” and distance themselves from the thought. The film observes how it often does not appear socially acceptable to openly talk about one’s pain as this can easily break the comfortable bubble of privilege that so many people choose to live in. A standout scene on a train incisively points out how the privileges that people enjoy today are directly connected to the evils of society, as easy as it may be to think that the pain and suffering are all in the past.

This messaging complements what is a delicate character study at its core, delving into how David and Benji approach life and cope with their emotions differently. This is accentuated by excellent performances from both Culkin and Eisenberg. Both of them excel in both the major monologues and the smaller nuances they bring to their interactions, building a raw and true-to-life dynamic that is affectionate yet thorny. Even the editing pattern is cleverly designed to highlight the contrast between these two characters.

Stories that focus on the healing of dysfunctional family bonds are often very touching and even therapeutic, but while those adjectives could certainly be used to describe this film, “A Real Pain” also acts as a sort of antithesis to such stories. It makes the conscious choice to do something slightly different from a conventional climax, asking viewers to linger on the difficult questions it asks and come up with their own answers. The choice to exclusively use classical piano pieces as background score is a perfect representation of the film’s approach in that it stops short of dictating how the viewer should feel. Instead, this is left open to how each viewer evaluates the characters’ actions and dialogues. Regardless of what one’s exact takeaway may be, Eisenberg’s emotionally mature approach to storytelling makes “A Real Pain” a moving, thought-provoking story that encourages viewers to pay more attention to their own emotions.