Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore feature film, A Real Pain, is a buddy comedy about a pair of cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland.
I watched A Real Pain on Thursday as soon as the virtual edition got underway. Knowing it was from Jesse Eisenberg and knowing it dealt with Jews touring through Poland, it was always going to kick off my virtual programming on Wednesday. Being Jewish myself, my family lived in Eastern Europe before many of them moved to the America. A few aunts, uncles, cousins, and a second great-grandmother perished during the Shoah. As such, I watch a number of films about the Holocaust, especially those centering on the Jewish experience. That being said, it is really nice when Jewish movies are not just about our pain and trauma. My overall thought is that the film is way better than Eisenberg’s directorial debut in 2022. Furthermore, there’s a fine line when it comes to the Holocaust and comedy–watch The Last Laugh if you wish to know more.
David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) are estranged cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland. While on the tour, the pair plan to take a side trip to see where their grandmother grew up before the Shoah. As can often be the case with family members, tensions come back to the surface. Their tour is led by the overenthusiastic James (Will Sharpe). One of the tourists, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and is a convert to Judaism. This character is inspired by Eisenberg’s friend, Eloge Butera. This April will mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide that saw a million people murdered in nearly 100 days.
A Real Pain is different from many films dealing with the Shoah. For one, it is not taking place during the Shoah itself. Instead, it is a contemporary film. This isn’t to say that they do not film scenes at important sites. One site on the tour is the Majdanek Concentration Camp. They also walk through a cemetery, where Benji basically loses it from James being so overenthusiastic. For what it is worth, James is not Jewish and is perhaps a bit too enthusiastic about the tour. I never went on the March of the Living but visiting any Holocaust Museum always comes with a somber tone. In one of the more intriguing choices, Eisenberg utilizes the works of Frédéric Chopin–a native of then-Napoleonic Poland–to score the film.
The thing that kept frustrating me throughout the film is that, to my knowledge, Kieran Culkin is not Jewish. Even if his character were a product of interfaith marriage, Culkin still doesn’t have a Jewish parent. Nor does his Wikipedia page say anything about having Jewish ancestry. You would think that a film dealing with the Holocaust, let alone Jewish generational trauma, would do a better job at casting Jewish roles with Jewish actors. Authentic storytelling goes a long way when it features authentic casting. We’re living in this world of authentic representation in just about every possible area except when it comes to Jews. I have no real issues with the script but Jesse Eisenberg could have made a better effort with the film’s casting.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Jesse Eisenberg
CAST: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes
A Real Pain holds its world premiere during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Searchlight Pictures will release the film at a later date. Grade: 3.5/5
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