Movie Number 4 of 2025
The Movie: A Real Pain
The Cinema: Village Cinemas, The Rivoli, Camberwell
Stars: 4.5
Yes, it's a movie weekend. It's hot. It's good to use somebody else's air conditioning. And this film is coming to the end of its run in the cinemas, and I'm very glad I got to see it before it left the screens.
Written, directed and starring Jesse Eisenberg, what could go wrong? Nothing. This is an hour and a half of a very well-acted, very well-written, very well-directed dramedy. It's wonderful in both its simplicity and depth.
It's a simple story. David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Keiran Culkin) are mismatched Jewish cousins who go on a week-long trip to Poland to pay homage to their Holocaust Survivor grandmother. Both of them have their quirks. David is a big ball of anxiety. Benji is more than likely bi-polar. David is more likely to sit back and let things happen. Benji charges at things with little consideration for others.
If I was travelling with Benji, I would have pulled the pin on the trip at the airport.
What follows is a very human journey to places neither cousin would have expected. The pair embark on a tour with a small group, look at the Jewish culture in Poland, ultimately visiting a concentration camp, before the cousins go off to find their grandmother's residence.
The tour group are a wonderful mix as well. An almost unrecognisable Jennifer Grey is Marsha, the divorced MILF. Will Sharpe is James, the long-suffering, incredibly patient tour guide, James. Kurt Egyiawan is Eloge, a Nigerian convert who is wanting to find more about the Jewish experience. And there's Mark and Diane (Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy) a retired couple who fill out the tour.
This movie is not only Jesse Eisenberg's masterpiece, but Keiren Culkin also steals the show as the erratic Benji. We've all been on tours where there is 'that' person. Culkin plays this exquisitely. You feel for David as he has to navigate Benji's over the top antics. James the tour guide also deserves a medal for putting up with him.
Yet in the end, this is a movie about family, and how we love in the family group. It's far more emotional than I initially thought this would be. Watching the pair navigate their thoughts and emotions as they travel around Poland is as funny as it is touching.
As this will be out of the cinemas shortly, look out for it on the streaming services. I reckon it will be on SBS Online in no time. It's a little gem of a film and I'd like to see more of Jesse Eisenberg's works in the future. He'll be a force on the indie scene.
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