Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg play mismatched cousins on a life-changing trip to Poland. HANDOUT PHOTO
Set against the unparalleled architectural landscape of Lublin, “A Real Pain” has cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg at his understated best) and Benji (a cool and chaotic Kieran Culkin) join a tour group to reconnect with the Polish heritage of their late grandmother. The rest of the travelers include the divorcée Marcia (Jennifer Grey), the retired married couple Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Diane (Liza Sadovy), and the genocide survivor and Jewish convert Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan). Will Sharpe rounds up the cast as James, an Eastern European scholar and designated tour guide. As the group soaks in and reflects on the brutal past of their ancestors, the relationship between the cousins unravels painful episodes and unspoken regrets.
The film opens inside an airport, and the camera moves around until it focuses on Culkin sitting in silence, and Chopin’s nocturne fills the background. The scene cuts to Eisenberg and, true to his neurotic form, bombards his cousin with voice messages about their flight departure. Less than three minutes in, we see the clashing personalities of our protagonists and the perceptible distance in their relationship. Eisenberg’s deft, efficient, and prudent guidance transformed the script into a contemplative discussion of personal and historical torment—that could have ended as a superficial road trip of mismatched buddies in the hands of lesser filmmakers.
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Straddling the humorous and the tragic is a formidable task, but writer-director Eisenberg unlocks, punctuates, and bookends the film with the perfect amount of amusement and pathos. One of the funniest scenes involves visiting the Warsaw Uprising, a popular monument commemorating the crucial operation of the Polish underground resistance movement, where Benji persuaded the rest of the group to stage a diorama-like photo session. Culkin embodies the unpredictable Benji whose mere presence changes the vibes around him. His laidback exterior conceals an empathetic but troubled soul capable of making the most inappropriate remarks or the most contemplative observations. Eisenberg understands how to utilize Benji as a centerpiece or comic relief because of his admirable restraint as a director.
This restraint is essential to staging the delicate but inevitable visit to a concentration camp. Forgoing music, Eisenberg shot the sequence in respectful silence. The camera moves from tracking shots to wide shots as the group enters the camp. The structure engulfs the cast as if pointing out that the collective trauma of a nation outweighs but still affects our sufferings. Inside the gas chamber, Polish cinematographer Michal Dymek utilized close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots as the characters confront and reflect on their heritage. The tour ends in a somber bus ride where an inconsolable Benji cries while the rest of the group stares in sobering silence.
Though Eisenberg has a far more understated role than Culkin, his dinner table monologue is one of the finest millennial “trauma dumps” I have witnessed on screen. You can almost see his neuroses spill out of his frazzled mind as he spoke about his fragile mental health and fractured relationships. The real pain that connects Dave and Benji is a desperate need for catharsis—a deep emotional release from all the pain and anger accumulated over time. I am this close to calling adulthood the implicit villain of the film, but I might end up trauma-dumping on this review.
Come to think of it, some of the most significant works of millennial artists are trauma dumps. “Barbie” is a blockbuster trauma dump. “Fleabag” is a one-dozen brilliant episodes of trauma dump. “Lemonade” is an acclaimed music album borne out of a cheating episode—still a trauma dump. Expect more artistic trauma dumps as millennials enter their thirties and forties. That sounds like a threat, but sometimes, the best of our generation delivers poignant gems like “A Real Pain.”