Movie Review: Family Cares for Each Other, No Matter What

 A Real Pain was a surprising film for me as until about a few weeks ago I had never even heard of it due to a severe lack of advertisement for the film. The film is directed by actor Jessie Eisenberg who in recent years has become more involved in cinema than just acting with this being his second fully released film.

     The movie follows cousins David, played by Eisenberg himself, and Benji, played by Kieran Culkin, who tour Poland to honor their late grandmother who had survived the Holocaust.

     The film takes time to reflect on the horrors of the past and has a conversation about how future generations of Jewish people reflect on sites that carry powerful histories to them. One of the biggest strengths I can give this film is that you do, in a sense, get a tour of these sites alongside the characters with many scenes capturing the emotions felt at specific memorials.

     The film also highlights in great detail the loving but tense relationship between the cousins David and Benji as their family history slowly unravels. This relationship serves as the crux of the narrative, with little pieces of dialogue and cinematography revealing the dynamic of the two cousins and where certain tensions stem from.

     I was initially caught off guard by one of the subject matters of the film which left me tense in certain scenes but inevitably enraptured by its emotional core. The stellar acting done by Eisenberg and Culkin made me truly believe in their familial relationship and how they truly just wish the best for one another.

     In more than one scene, these performances nearly left me sobbing which is something I love to experience with a film even if it is not entirely pleasant. Culkin’s performance in particular I believe to be one of the best of the year with it stirring so many emotions in me during the film’s short run time. I felt a familiarity present in the emotions and sadness expressed in this film more than any other I’ve seen this year.

     What surprised me the most about A Real Pain was that I left the theater concluding that it was one of my favorite films of the year. The performances are what ultimately led me to this decision as they are what carried the film even when there was not much

     innovation found elsewhere. This is a very emotional, and to be honest, funny film that left me reflecting on my own experiences a lot more. I am not expecting everyone to have the same reaction as me, but I can confidently recommend this to just about anyone with the hopes that more people will hear about it.