A Real Pain Review: Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin Deliver a Haunting Tale of Generational Trauma and Family Bonds

When was the last time you went away with the cousin you grew up with? Why were you together in the first place? Because of your grandparents? Or because you loved being together?

Jesse Eisenberg is best known for his role as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network but has since tried his own hand at writing and directing. His sophomore film follows When You Finish Saving the World, the adaptation to his own book of the same name.

Along with Eisenberg as writer and director, A Real Pain comes with an epic lineup of producers: Emma Stone (The Curse), Ali Herting (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Dave McCary (Saturday Night Live), Ewa Puszczyńska (The Zone of Interest), Jennifer Semler (Theater Camp) and Kevin Kelly (I Saw the TV Glow).

Eisenberg stars as David, who hasn’t seen his cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin) in a very long time. The pair reunite on a trip to Poland to commemorate their dead grandmother, who left them a sizable sum in order to tour through the country together. The only problem is these men couldn’t be more different. David is organized, tidy and inherently anxious when around Benji, who is free spirited and shameless. Benji might be a bit of a mess, but only because he feels everything so deeply. Culkin is fearless as Benji, the type of man who isn’t sorry for just existing, unlike David. But rather than shove the pain down and hide it away—as David might prefer—Benji feels every morsel of it rather outwardly.

With incredibly meaningful dialogue that encapsulates a story born from a painfully honest place, the product of this Eisenberg-Culkin combo is a pair of performances so earnest they feel real. Culkin unapologetically shines brighter than the sun and invites you to watch, even if at times it feels uncomfortable. The film asks people to address their pain rather than stifle it… and admit to the cons that come from both.

This is a character driven film that unpacks a lot of serious issues, like generational trauma and thoughts of self harm. It’s likely not to everyone’s taste. But it does stand on its own amongst the other releases this year in how it addresses familial shackles in this particular dynamic. It’s a touching story about the complex connection between cousins who’d grown up and apart—who found importance in different things and people. A path that looked back on the same crossroads and made you wonder how they got to where they are… when you’re standing all the way in the other direction. It tells a dialogue driven tale about what it feels like to bridge that gap, to dig up old skeletons and to face what the generation before left behind for us to inherit.

Does grief die with its victims? Or is it a parasite that trickles down, nuzzles in and sticks to our blood? Do we feel the pain they felt? Did we inherit it? And if we did, how can we be free of it? Or are we meant to find a way to shoulder it together?

Eisenberg gives a subtle yet valiant performance to cherry-top his articulate script and direction. But Culkin remains the standout from the very first shot… to the very last. Watch A Real Pain in theaters now.

Watch the trailer for A Real Pain below