A Real Pain (2024) is directed by Jesse Eisenberg and stars Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Daniel Oreskes, Liza Sadovy, and Ellora Torchia. The film follows Benji Kaplan (Culkin) and David Kaplan (Eisenberg), two cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland after the death of their beloved grandmother. Throughout the trip, Benji’s charismatic yet emotionally unhinged behavior continuously places David in social scenarios he’d rather not be a part of. While David attempts to help Benji come to terms with his internal melancholy, Benji helps David to let loose and enjoy life. Exploring historical remnants of the Holocaust, the two struggle to come to terms with their struggles in the shadow of a much greater kind of pain. 

The film is a classic character study; therefore, its quality hinges heavily on its central performances. Instead of taking an unnecessary risk and writing himself a juicy role that steps away from his usual schtick, Eisenberg instead plays into this well-known awkward persona and delivers one of his best performances to date. It’s a great example of what a writer can do if he knows who will portray the character beforehand (in this case, himself). I have no doubt in my mind that David is not much different from the real-life Jesse Eisenberg. Ultimately, I think this works because the real-life Eisenberg is truly a one-of-a-kind human being. There’s something uniquely entertaining about his/the character’s blend of admirable maturity and crippling OCD. This is all a great foundation, but the character ultimately works because of the way he challenges/is challenged by his cousin, Benji.

Eisenberg’s performance is good, but Culkin blows him out of the water. Throughout the film, he displays a special ability to say something so convincingly with his words but something completely different with his eyes. Everything important the character needs to tell us is communicated physically and Culkin nails it. Something is endearing about a character who socially has everything going for him but can’t overcome his internal struggles. We simultaneously envy and pity this character in a way that feels more authentic to reality. Everyone has strengths and struggles, but Benji’s are just more recognizable. We pity Benji because of the way other people see his behavior but envy him because of his ability to be so unapologetic about the way he feels. To everyone else, Benji has a problem. In reality, they all have problems, Benji just isn’t shy about showing his (which is consistent with his openness in social situations).

The film is often a fantastic display of the strengths and weaknesses of people who worry and people who go with the flow. Benji and David are classic opposites, but it’s easy to see oneself in each of them. There are times in each of our lives when we wish we were more carefree like Benji and there are times when we wish we were more responsible like David. The film plays like a classic comedy about the relationship between brothers, but it was a smart choice to make the two cousins instead. This allows them to communicate in ways that would feel a bit too sensitive for brothers, but not necessarily for family members whose relationship more closely resembles a traditional non-familial friendship.

During its perfectly edited 90-minute runtime, the film succeeds in exploring a handful of complex and emotionally effective themes. It explores internal vs collective pain and how we often detach ourselves from the struggles of other people. The thing is, these themes are extremely well-balanced because the script also explores the idea of how we often needlessly project our pain onto others in a spiteful attempt to make them feel similarly.

There’s also an interesting exploration of guilt in not just a personal sense, but a historical one too. There’s something undeniably off about eating fancy meals and sleeping in nice hotels in a place where your ancestors were starved and slaughtered. In many aspects of day-to-day life, we often “ignore the slaughterhouse so we can enjoy our steak.” The film essentially tells the viewer they can keep enjoying their steaks, just don’t ignore the slaughterhouse.

Overall, this is one of the better character studies I’ve seen in a long time, and also works as a fantastic vacation/travel film. The dialogue is top-notch, the performances are Oscar-worthy, and it may be one of the most impressively streamlined films I’ve ever seen. At a short of 90 minutes, I think it’s a film everyone should check out. Benji is easily one of the most fully-formed characters to grace screens this year. A-