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In one brilliant scene in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” the writer-director-costar grapples with the massive weight of Jewish history with a sensitivity that feels like the work of a seasoned filmmaker, not a second-time director.

Throughout the film, Jewish cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) share experiences both hysterically funny and personally revealing with their tour group in Poland. The film effortlessly balances dark comedy with significant drama as the cousins and their newfound friends explore the journeys of the Polish Jews before and during the Holocaust.

“A Real Pain” is as much a story of the modern Jewish experience as it is a journey of self-discovery and kinship. It is deeply rooted in the relationship between David and Benji, which has a loving and complicated history of its own and never loses sight of their dynamics even as it asks existential questions.

The story builds up to the aforementioned scene: a visit to Majdanek Concentration Camp. The scene contains little dialogue and somber, patient shots of the group walking through this artifact of genocide. Eisenberg’s characters and the audience reflect upon history, our role in preserving it and how we carry it into our personal lives.

Though these questions can be heavy, the film is filled to the brim with earnest humor. Much of the comedy is rooted in the fundamental differences between the cousins. David is an anxious, middle-class family man. He has a wife, a kid and an unexciting job; he has his life together. By contrast, Benji displays eccentric and blunt behavior toward everyone and everything. He talks fast, swears in almost every sentence and speaks his mind freely.

Eisenberg plays to his strengths as David, with nervous line deliveries and awkward physicality, often standing away from the other characters until Benji comes up to him. His performance is made personal by knowing that he is directing himself; Eisenberg’s vulnerability shines through both in front of and behind the camera.

David worries about everything, from the trip going smoothly to his cousin’s unusual behavior toward the tour group members. After all, going on the tour was David’s idea so he and Benji could see the childhood home of their recently-deceased Polish grandmother. Benji was especially close with his grandmother and jumped at the chance to take this trip with David, though their approaches to social situations greatly differ.

When David and Benji first meet with their tour group and learn why each member is embarking on the trip, Benji interrupts with remarks so inappropriately timed that you can’t help but laugh. Though he displays unusual, antisocial behavior, Benji quickly befriends everyone in the group. His ability to charm and connect with people makes David jealous.

Occasionally, David finds Benji’s behavior overwhelming and insensitive. Benji encourages everyone besides David to take photos in front of a World War II memorial for Polish soldiers, having everyone pose like they were fighting in the war.

David finds this photo op to be disrespectful to those who died fighting, yet everyone else happily poses with Benji. This leads to a delightful moment where each group member hands their phone to David so he can take pictures with them.

As the film progresses, however, we learn that Benji isn’t taking this trip for granted. In fact, he is thinking more deeply about the trip, and the implications of going on a “Holocaust tour,” more than the tour guide James (Will Sharpe). Though James knows much about Jewish and Polish history, his tour isn’t designed for group members to immerse themselves in the experience. Benji would prefer the group silently pay respects to departed Jewish souls in a graveyard or speak to living Polish people.

Through Benji, “A Real Pain” asks its most interesting questions about the relationship between history and modernity. Benji remarks on how strange it feels to ride first class on a train while Jews 80 years ago were being transported to concentration camps in the back. While the purpose of a “Holocaust tour” is to inform group members of their ancestry, it can be uncomfortable to reckon with modern-day privileges while engrossing oneself in the suffering of millions.

Culkin steals the film with a performance so compelling it nearly renders everyone else less impressive. The “Succession” star grounds his character’s bizarre, entertaining mannerisms and tirades in something real and heartbreaking. Culkin plays Benji like a child afraid to grow up despite being an adult already, but his looseness and curiosity make everyone love him.

Both the co-leads and the supporting cast lend authenticity to the world this film presents. Each location feels real and lived-in, with a tangible history evoked through the gorgeous photography from “EO” cinematographer Michał Dymek.

The questions “A Real Pain” asks and the feelings it provokes are genuine. Eisenberg conveys his vision with the confidence that David longs for in life, delivering a funny and moving tale of family and those who came before.

Published on October 21, 2024 at 10:16 pm