A Real Pain (2024)

What is the Storyline of A Real Pain?

A Real Pain tells the story of two estranged cousins who reconnect on a Jewish Heritage tour through Poland. Benji and David Kaplan were once close, but they’ve become increasingly distant from each other as they’ve aged. When their beloved grandmother dies, they use the funds she left them to visit her home country and reconnect with their history. 

However, Benji’s free-spirited nature and David’s more reserved personality frequently bring them into conflict. It’s not long before old tensions resurface against the backdrop of the tour and threaten to derail the entire trip.

Our Honest Review of A Real Pain 

It’s rare to see a film set in Poland that doesn’t revolve around politics or spy missions, but that’s one of the joys of A Real Pain. Here, the country is vibrant and bustling with life, and it makes an eye-catching setting for Jesse Eisenberg’s passion project. 

Eisenberg stars as David Kaplan, a middle-aged American who reunites with his estranged cousin Benji for a heritage tour of Poland. They’re keen to visit the childhood home of their recently deceased Grandmother, but as their two wildly different personalities clash, things begin to come unglued. This isn’t a conventional comedy, but it’s not surprising that it was a critical sensation, it’s terrific. 

Opposite him, Kieran Culkin plays Benji and puts in a career-best performance. He’s a charismatic fellow, full of foul-mouthed charm but also prone to saying something deeply offensive and spoiling the mood.

It’s not wall-to-wall laughs, though, and as the duo discovers more about what their Grandmother endured, things can get bleak. The shadow of the Holocaust lingers over everything, but while A Real Pain ventures into unpleasant territory, it’s never less than terrific. We can’t recommend this one enough. 

What Do the Critics Think of A Real Pain?

A Real Pain was almost universally popular with professional film critics. The National Board Of Review and the American Film Institute both named it one of the ten best films of 2024. Jesse Eisenberg’s direction and Kieran Culkin’s performance as Benji were highly praised, and we had trouble finding any overly critical A Real Pain reviews. 

• “Eisenberg tenderly and firmly directs the movie, entering the Holocaust experience through a comic road trip, speaking of modern life and several unmined feelings that continue to haunt third-generation Americans.” – Udita Jhunjhunwala, Livemint

• “It may be formally unadventurous but A Real Pain is a real treat, a tender, funny treatise on family jealousies and our relationship to the past. Simultaneously light and heavy, it soars on the stellar pairing of Eisenberg and Culkin.” – Ian Freer, Empire

• “A substantial and emotionally nourishing journey that contains, courtesy of Culkin, perhaps the most devastating final shot of any film you will see this year.” – Wendy Ide, The Observer

• “A Real Pain is a film that’s really an ellipsis. That’s where it derives its tender power.” – Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

• “Jesse Eisenberg has nothing to prove; he has already staked his claim as an actor, writer, and director. But A Real Pain digs deeper than he ever has before—and it’s a really good movie.” – Leonard Maltin

Were Any Awards Won By A Real Pain?

A Real Pain was extremely popular within the film industry and was nominated for multiple awards. Most of these were directed at Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. Our research team has identified over 150, including:

• Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin, at the 97th Academy Awards (won).
• Best Original Screenplay for Jesse Eisenberg, at the 97th Academy Awards.
• Best Original Screenplay for Jesse Eisenberg, at the British Academy Of Film Awards (won).
• Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Kieran Culkin, at the British Academy Of Film Awards (won).
• Best Comedy, at the Critics Choice Movie Awards (won).
• Best Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy, at the Golden Globe Awards.
• Best Actor, Motion Picture Musical Or Comedy for Jesse Eisenberg, at the Golden Globe Awards.
• Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture for Kieran Culkin (won). 

Director and Cast of A Real Pain

Fun Facts About A Real Pain

• Kieran Culkin is a dedicated fan of professional wrestling. At one point, his character references ‘The Bushwackers,’ a tag team famous for their comical strutting walk. He then recreates the walk, much to the embarrassment of his onscreen cousin.

• Will Sharpe’s role was originally written for Richard Ayoade, but he felt he couldn’t do the character justice. Ayoade specifically recommended Sharpe to play James in his place.

• Jesse Eisenberg was sceptical about casting a non-Jewish actor to play Benji, but Kieran Culkin won him over.

• The film’s success resulted in Jesse Eisenberg being granted Polish citizenship. Eisenberg has familial roots in Poland and described this as the “…honour of a lifetime and something I have been very interested in for two decades.” 

Themes of A Real Pain

A Real Pain focuses on familial relationships, and existential crises, against a backdrop of two Jewish men reconnecting with one another on a trip through Poland. The two main characters have grown distant as they aged, and the film depicts them bonding over shared experiences in adulthood. 

Through this central pairing, the film explores themes of how our extended family histories affect us, as the duo explores Poland and visits places that their Grandmother would have seen in her youth. The Holocaust casts a shadow over them and has shaped the trajectory of their lives even though they didn’t experience it firsthand. 

How Does A Real Pain Compare to Jesse Eisenberg’s Other Work?

A Real Pain is only the second film that Jesse Eisenberg has directed, the other being 2022’s When You Finish Saving The World, but we can already see specific themes recurring in his work. Both films explore familial relationships, although A Real Pain looks at two male cousins, while When You Finish Saving The World was about a mother/son relationship. 

The two movies have tonal similarities too; the humour is derived from awkward human interactions, and they each depict flawed characters. Eisenberg’s films are full of people with personality quirks, and they frequently are at odds with one another and the wider world. Alongside this, Eisenberg tackles darker themes; A Real Pain’s narrative is deeply affected by the Holocaust, while When You Finish Saving The World is set against the backdrop of a domestic abuse shelter. 

Neither of these movies could be considered big budget, blockbuster fodder and instead, are relatively subdued passion projects. They are offbeat family dramas with a comedic side and Eisenberg is more interested in personalities than special effects. 

Iconic Scenes from A Real Pain

Behind-the-Scenes Trivia

• Kieran Culkin was on the verge of dropping out of the project only two weeks before shooting was due to start. He had recently wrapped up the final episode of HBO’s Succession and felt like he should take time off with his family. Jesse Eisenberg persuaded him to stay.

• The scenes at John F. Kennedy Airport weren’t filmed on location but at Radom-Sadków Airport in Poland. Pay close attention, and you can spot several signs that give it away.

• Jesse Eisenberg wrote the script during the Covid-19 pandemic and was unable to travel due to the lockdown restrictions. As he couldn’t explore the film’s locations in person, he relied on Google Earth instead.

• The film was produced by Fruit Tree, which is owned by actress Emma Stone. She and Jesse Eisenberg have been close friends ever since meeting on the set of Zombieland (2009). Eisenberg has affectionately called her his “fairy Godmother” for the support she’s offered throughout his career.

What’s the Soundtrack Like for A Real Pain?

The score for A Real Pain consists entirely of piano pieces, written by the famous Polish composer Frédéric Chopin and performed by Tzvi Erez. The use of classical piano pieces adds to the movie’s atmosphere. Anyone who is familiar with Chopin should recognise the music and the soundtrack includes everything from sedate, moving ballads to lively waltzes.

Best Quotes from A Real Pain

• “Money’s like f****** heroin for boring people” – Benji, in conversation

• “You are, like, an awesome guy stuck inside the body of somebody who’s always running late. And I gotta, like, fish that fuckin’ guy outta ya every time I see ya.” – Benji’s description of David

• “My mum, my dad… They’re trying to kill me. There’s others too.” Boy seeking safety explaining that the infected people have been chasing him.

• “Look at this. We’d probably live here if the war didn’t happen. Isn’t that fuckin’ crazy to think about? Seriously! Like, we think of ourselves as these, like, very American creations, you know? And I guess that we are. I guess that’s, like, the essence of America – people created from other cultures – but, like, in some parallel black hole universe, you and I are Polish and we probably got, like, long beards and we can’t shake hands with women.” – Benji reflecting on his history in Poland

• “I don’t know. I mean, if, like, we wept for every sad thing in the world, like, what would that accomplish?” – David, in conversation

What People Are Asking About A Real Pain