Sarcastic, cynical and an absolute gut punch to the heart, “A Real Pain” left me devastated as I walked out of the theater. With its deceptively simple narrative, Jesse Eisenberg delivers a unique story of grief, using its raw honesty and simplicity to illustrate the unspoken pain that hits you when you least expect it.
Written and directed by Eisenberg, “A Real Pain” centers on cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) who take a trip to Poland to commemorate their grandmother’s passing. Together, they take part in a group tour of Poland to understand their grandmother’s former life and history. As they reconnect, they reminisce about past joys and discover their growing differences, all while uncovering the new hidden burdens they each bear.
A part of the charm of “A Real Pain” is its delightful script. The dialogue is full of what I affectionately call “Eisenbergisms” — lines filled with dry humor and cynical sarcasm. The sharp banter between David and Benji had the audience in fits of laughter while Benji’s frequent, unconventional trail of thoughts left them thoroughly charmed. The humor eventually serves as an effective counterpoint to the grief and pain both characters carry individually, as well as the devastation of the tour they embark on — a journey that forces them to confront the horrors of the Holocaust, which their grandmother once endured and escaped.
The other half of the film’s charm lies in its phenomenal performances, which bring the script’s sharp vibrancy to life.
In particular, Culkin’s performance as Benji absolutely blew me away. His unique blend of vulnerability wrapped in sharp snark — most notably showcased in his portrayal of Roman Roy in “Succession” — makes Benji both captivating and heartbreakingly tragic to watch. Benji is visceral, and Culkin brings that unstable, disarming nature alive through the care he takes to portray the inherent pain hidden beneath Benji’s charm. The close-ups given to Culkin show how easily he is able to pull the switch to reveal Benji’s internal turmoil, as his eyes grow lost and clouded, only for a winning smile to bury that pain deep within his character once more.
Additionally, Eisenberg takes on an unexpected softness as David. Known for infusing sarcasm into his characters, he proves equally apt at conveying pure sincerity. While David maintains the similarly cynical, biting tone and frenzied anxiety of Eisenberg’s previous roles, pure love for Benji shines through his performance.
Eisenberg and Culkin share a rapid-fire familiarity, effortlessly bouncing off each other. They bicker, clash and dissolve into laughter with the ease and authenticity that only family can share.
Above all, the portrayal of grief in “A Real Pain” is unexpectedly harrowing. It was this representation of pain that my mom had brought up in our ritual film debrief on the way home from the press screening. For both her and me, the devastation of “A Real Pain” was in this idea that true real pains will never change.
In one moment, David reflects on the “unexceptional pains” everyone experiences, expressing his frustration with Benji, who seems to burden others with the full weight of his struggles. David, in contrast, chooses to keep his pain private, believing it to be his alone. However, the film begins to draw a distinction between these unexceptional pains and real pains. Real pains become the eternal grief of the Holocaust that David, Benji and their tour group can view and learn but never truly understand. It’s a gnawing pain that Benji carries deep inside — one that David, despite his efforts, will never fully comprehend.
This idea of an eternal, unchanged kind of grief is driven especially by the film’s opening and heartbreaking closing shot of Benji’s face. Despite reconnecting with David and finding some closure over his grandmother’s passing, Culkin’s Benji wears the same expression of insecurity and disorientation at the airport as he did at the start of the film. The happiness that previously colored his face vanishes as soon as he says goodbye to David, his charming bravado now gone. Nothing has changed and Benji sits there with the same pain that plagued him at the beginning.
For all the humor and tender moments between its captivating characters, “A Real Pain” concludes with the image of Benji’s lost eyes — a final moment that leaves viewers with the stinging sorrow of his hopeless pain.
