A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg's sophmore film is an irresistible dramedy

Actors can quickly be typecast into specific characters. Such is the case with Jesse Eisenberg, who has consistently played a neurotic anti-social nerd since The Social Network (2010), and it seems that Kieran Culkin is becoming defined as a wisecracking loose cannon after his iconic role in Succession (2018-2023).

A Real Pain (2024) is the story of two cousins, Benji (Culkin) and David (Eisenberg), who used to be close in their youth, but as adults have become estranged. Upon their grandmother’s death they decide to go to her ancestral home, Poland, and reconnect with their roots and each other.

A Real Pain is Eisenberg’s sophomore directing effort after When You Finish Saving the World (2022). Eisenberg shows an adeptness at balancing comedy and drama in A Real Pain; a joke never overstays its welcome, leaving you wanting more, and the dramatic moments are not exaggerated for flair. A Real Pain is also contained in its character analysis as well as its runtime, the film is a brisk 1 hour and 30 minutes and yet somehow feels shorter than that.

A Real Pain is about trauma and painful emotions, whether they be from personal interactions, individual pasts, or from generational trauma. Eisenberg never brings about a grand declaration on what his film is about, instead choosing to have messy and tangled meanings overlap each other. This is seen with the writing of the characters themselves. Many times, you will be rooting for Benji in a specific conflict, while at others be infuriated by him and side with David. It’s a balance showing imperfections and faults that every one of us has, which is threaded beautifully in A Real Pain’s characters without them losing consistency or appeal.

A Real Pain is set up as a two-hander, but the film is entirely stolen by Culkin. The American actor is playing a version of his character Roman from Succession, but there is also a calculated depth and pain hidden within Benji and glimpsed, decaying behind his eyes with the spouting of a quip or a joke. Culkin exudes an effortless charm that endears his character to viewers even when at his most obnoxious. Eisenberg, pulling double-duty in front and behind the camera, plays to his strengths as a bumbling nerd, but there is an added strain and history in his interactions and glances at Benji that uncover a dimension to his performance that many may miss.

In the end, A Real Pain is a fabulously compact and moving dramedy, anchored by no-frills direction from Eisenberg and a scene-stealing performance from Culkin. The deeper questions into emotional suppression, personal evolution, and generation trauma are fascinating ones to consider and ones that Eisenberg brings up, but is wise enough to let viewers answer themselves.

8.2/10