A Real Pain

A Real Pain is a film with two sides: in one of them, the humorous journey of two cousins (Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) who travel to Poland to understand and learn more about their family's past ; on the other, a well-oiled drama about one of the cousins, Benji, played by Culkin, who tries to understand his role in the world. Despite the inherent conflict that arises from these two views, almost contradictory within the film itself, A Real Pain is functional in its ideas and pretensions, mainly with this desire of Eisenberg -- also the film's director and screenwriter -- to better understand its origins and how it impacts the lives of new generations. It's a film with flaws, yes, but it's resolved mainly through good writing and acting. Culkin, especially, manages to move brilliantly between comedy and drama. No wonder, he was nominated for the 2025 Oscar as a supporting actor and won, in the Drama category, at the Golden Globes.