LIFF38 2024 #3

A Real Pain is a funny and smartly written film but also hard to watch.

We follow two cousins who travel to Poland to reconnect with their heritage and honour their late grandmother.

But as the two tour Poland, past/present complications arise in their relationship. They are both sides of the coin in terms of different personalities. David (Jesse Eisenberg) is reserved and rational, and he is married and has a daughter, while Benji (Kieran Culkin) is a sharp, open book, has no filter, and is alone. The character of Benji reminded me of two people in my life. One was so electronic and kid-like in personality that their presence alone could light up the room. You want to be around them. While the other can be unbearable and too much. That's Benji - you like him, but he can be too much.

It is very much an actor and character study film. We are given hints of a troubling past through bits of dialogue and the two performances. They both envy what each other has. David wants to be free and open with his emotions again, while Benji wants to settle down with someone. Afterward, it got me thinking; we live our ordinary lives and routines, sometimes longing for something more, while someone out there would kill to have what we have.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg are stellar in their roles as two cousins. This is Culkin's best role yet, as he manages to tackle so many complex and challenging emotions as an actor, but he did it magnificently. One of the challenges that Culkin had was the risk of making the character too obnoxious, but he managed to avoid the trappings, and we empathise with both his and Eisenberg's character.

Jesse is also superb here, and since his character is more restrained, most of the film's humour comes from his reactions. However, there's a scene where we see a more emotional side to him. The bottled-up thoughts and feelings finally explode after some time in a monologue, where everything falls out. It was both heartbreaking and raw.

Directed/written by actor Jesse Eisenberg, who wanted to make a Holocaust-type film but make it feel different from others that came before, set in the present day, and the main characters are two Jewish cousins who arrive in Poland to visit Auschwitz. The film uses the everlasting horrors of the holocaust that still affect many people as an example that we as humans shut ourselves off, numb ourselves from the pain, past experiences, insecurities, and whatever can hurt us in life. It's a human defence mechanism to protect ourselves, but we shut ourselves off completely, and we forget how to be open.

It can be the death of someone you might know, a famous person you like, or seeing a tragic event that happened in another country on your social news feed as you're scrolling through your phone. You feel bad but quickly forget and move on because we have problems to sort out.

Well, those were the biggest takeaways I got from the film. It's one of those movies that leaves you with a lot to digest. And we do indeed think more than we feel.