'A Real Pain' Is a Poignant Exploration of Jewish Intergenerational Trauma

Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain follows two cousins who reunite on a tour through Poland to honor their grandmother. The plot of the film is deeply connected to Eisenberg’s own family, as it explores Jewish culture and history. Eisenberg stars in the film alongside Kieran Culkin, and together they take on a comedic and emotional buddy road trip pairing, exploring more about themselves on a journey of healing. A Real Pain showcases the universal desire to know where we came from and provides a poignant tour in the footsteps of family.

The two cousins at the center of A Real Pain are very different from each other. Benji (Culkin) appears disheveled, like someone who’s been living off the grid, while David (Eisenberg) seems more put together and almost uptight. They are not only different in their appearance but also in their personalities. David often finds himself apologizing for Benji’s erratic behavior, and Benji seems like an annoyance to him. Benji is more outgoing and energetic than David, but his energy appears over-exuberant, almost as if he’s using it as a mask to hide his dissatisfaction with life. During their initial catch-up, Benji assures David that he’s doing great, but there’s a hint of dishonesty. Benji has been stuck living on a ratty basement couch while David has a successful career, a wife, and a son. Benji’s confrontational behavior hints at an underlying tension that’s waiting to come to the surface.

Upon reaching their destination in Poland, David and Benji join their tour group and are reminded by their guide, played by Will Sharpe, that this tour is about revisiting a painful history. Although any film that delves into Jewish history, especially the Holocaust, is bound to evoke powerful emotions, A Real Pain does not dwell on misery. Instead, it is a thought-provoking film that follows David and Benji as they trace their grandmother’s footsteps as a Holocaust survivor. The film is highly sensitive to its subject matter, from the events of WWII to the difficult subject matter that the cousins’ conversations bring up. It is an emotional journey as they face pain, whether it is within themselves or with each other. Benji is engulfed in deep sadness as he was close to his grandmother, and David is also grieving. The reunion, which initially seems joyful, opens up old wounds that the cousins must work together to heal.

A Real Pain is an exercise in tone. While it surrounds weighty subject matter, it also feels breezy, often comedic without sacrificing its raw emotional core. Its Chopin-driven score works well in this way, as its brisk keys match the pace of the tour but also contain a hint of melancholy. As Benji and David, Culkin and Eisenberg work so well together to highlight each other’s different qualities while remaining relatable and flawed. We see them tackle many complicated emotions on this trip and it’s interesting to see how their relationship evolves as the film goes on. They are characters both weighed down by grief and pain, and how they deal with that and how they deal with following in the footsteps of their family’s trauma is quite moving.

A Real Pain is a poignant exploration of intergenerational trauma within the Jewish community. It addresses how this trauma resurfaces and how individuals cope with it. The film poses some deep questions: How can we complain about the struggles we face in our lives when our ancestors had to endure far worse? Many of us lack knowledge of our family history, but we may still feel guilty about what’s happening around us. It can feel wrong to go to our mundane jobs when there’s so much devastation. We may feel helpless and uncertain about how to be happy when war and conflict are constantly displayed on our TV screens. These questions linger and make A Real Pain a profound viewing experience.