A Real Pain

 

A Real Pain (2024)

Directed by Jesse Eisenberg

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½

Plot: A story of mismatched cousins, Benji and David, (played by Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) who take a trip to Poland to honor their late grandmother takes the audience on an exploration of the complexities of family and deep rooted tension. For Benji and David, this trip is meant to be a bonding experience, but they are faced with challenges of confronting family history as well as their personal baggage. The tour that these cousins embark on is intended to be a journey of remembrance, but eventually becomes a journey of self-discovery for both Benji and David, leaving the audience pondering on the nature of their relationship by the end of the film. 

Characters: Benji's story is seen through his struggle with his identity and attempt to fit in with everyone else that is on the trip that Benji and David are. After the passing of their grandmother, Benji opens up about how he has been finding it difficult to find a purpose, and he doesn't know where to go from here. Benji is sincere and charismatic, but also troubled and tone deaf which David calls him out on. Towards the end of the movie, he slowly begins to come to terms with where he is at in his life, but we never fully get a resolution and are left wondering what he'll do next. 

David's story is seen through his consistent attempt at trying to fit himself into social situations and trying not to let his overthinking get to him, but he battles with this throughout the entirety of the film. He struggles to navigate the relationships in his life, and finds it hard to believe that someone like Benji can just flow through life without facing its repercussions. Towards the end of the movie, he is starting to grapple with his sense of self and has become less anxious, but the open-ended ending of the films leaves us to make conclusions for ourselves and for both characters. 

Cinematography: Jesse Eisenberg creates an environment that is tense while also sentimental, as the movie speaks on topics that are sensitive. A Real Pain was filmed in Poland, and includes significant scenes such as the sequence where the tour group is at Majdanek concentration camp, and how it was filmed with minimal interference from the camera crew, allowing the actors' performances and the location's history to resonate with the audience and demonstrate the gravity of the setting. The commitment to authenticity helps to provide the film with emotional depth, while also giving the audience an opportunity to sympathize and reflect with each character.

Score: The score for the film is made up almost entirely of music by the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, which is very fitting seeing that the movie itself was filmed in Poland. The use of this music gives the film a traditional, mature feeling, as it doesn't overwhelm or take away the actual plot but rather elevates it, providing a bit of light-heartedness and comedy to scenes where you can physically feel the tension and embarrassment. There is a portion of the film that there is the slightest bit of dialogue and no sound, and this can be viewed as intentional so the viewers are given a chance to take it all in. The absence of the sound plays a key role in the experience of the characters, which in turn, translates to the audience, and make the moments where there is sound more impactful because of the silence that lead up to it. 

Underlying themes: The most prominent underlying themes would be grief and humor, specifically as a coping mechanism. Benji's struggle with depression sits as the center of the story, but the topic of grief dives deeper than that, as both Benji and David illustrate how people process pain differently. David is most emotionally restrained, demonstrating that this coping mechanism is what is natural to him, and along with his anxiety, he does not feel as though he needs to come to terms with his grief just yet. Humor is one of the most common coping mechanisms, and can be seen directly through Benji as he uses it to his advantage to put himself out there and get to know his tourist group members. The humor doesn't discredit the seriousness of the situation, but rather emulates the humanity and reality that the situation is founded in. Benji was able to make the best of the trip to Poland with his cousin despite the fact that they had to face very difficult circumstances. 

Final thoughts: I found this movie to be one of the realest movies I have seen in a long time - giving credits to its title - and I also appreciated how it touched on topics that are still very apparent to this day. The sense of awkwardness and second-hand embarrassment made this film more than just a film, and knowing that Kieran Culkin was awarded a Golden Globe Award for his performance as Benji made it that much more worthwhile. It's beautiful, heartfelt, and humorous all at the same time, and delves into topics and themes that some find it hard to talk about, so this movie can potentially give them the space to do so. This film has my recommendation!