Movie Review: A Real Pain

December 16, 2024

By Bessy ADUT

A friend recommended this movie telling me it would be very nice to write a review for Şalom. After watching the movie, I understood why. I have been on a little pause as I couldn’t find the most appropriate movie to write about. This story is a very good fit because it’s about two cousins who go to Poland on a tour to reconnect with their roots and as an ode to their grandmother. I believe the movie has a potential to become an Oscar Contender; the strongest points being the performances of the actors as well as the original screenplay.

What’s the genre? It’s a mix of comedy and drama. The film is directed by Jesse Eisenberg. I was surprised to find Emma Stone and Dave McCary in the producers' credits.

Cast: Jewish American cousins are played by Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin (known as Macaulay Culkin’s brother). They are very different personalities. Their polar opposite characters really make it an interesting story to watch. They travel to Poland together to honor their grandmother and find out more about their heritage. Other cast includes Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey (famous from Dirty Dancing), Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes. The tour guide and the rest of the tourists all form a nice cast ensemble together.

Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; definitely an independent film, belongs there. So far, it has been named one of the top 10 films of the year both by the National Board of Review and AFI. I do expect to see this film in the upcoming Academy Awards in 1 or more categories.

SPOILER ALERT from here on; read after watching or enter at your own risk. :)

The film begins with Eisenberg making several phone calls to his cousin excessively, seeming nervous going to the airport. David is a very straight man who is a family man and has a regular job, he lives a ‘normal’ life. On the other hand, Benji is very free-spirited, eccentric and a kind of its own. Benji seems to be a very emotional person who lives through all the ups and downs. Benji doesn’t like David, he doesn’t have the spontaneity they had in their younger days and David doesn’t appreciate Benji being so all over the place and having tantrums.

Old Jewish Cemetery is one of the strong scenes where Benji challenges everyone, mostly criticizing the tour guide, not having enough emotional connection to what happened but just listening to it as statistics. He has an outburst that awes everybody. However, the tour guide is humbled and accepts the criticism. He offers that everyone puts a stone in memories of the lost ones and they all do that. It is really a connecting moment of all spirits.

Two moments of the movie really moved me. Once you watch it, you can let me know your thoughts.

The first one is when the stones scene makes a comeback at the end. Cousins go to visit their grandmother’s old home. They want to do the same tradition and they put two stones in front of the house. However, an old grumpy neighbor starts yelling at them in Polish. They don’t understand but a young Polish man comes and mediates what is happening there. They have to move the stones, even though they are understood, not to cause a hazard. Both of the stone putting scenes felt very authentic and special to me.

The second one is the slap. Benji mentions how their grandmother slapped him one time for running late to lunch 10 minutes. It was a special moment for him. The payoff of the slap is when David slaps him at the airport as he says how that was the best thing that happened to him.

There is also a good and harsh criticism and reality as to how the 1st generation immigrants struggle the most, 2nd generation try to make the best of it and the best version of themselves, and 3rd generation takes it all a bit for granted, ‘smoking pot and living in their mother’s basement.’ This harsh reality that had caused Benji to have a suicide attempt and we learn that really shook David.

Some other details, how Benji is affected on the train and throws another tantrum. He says in the past, people were going through real pain and now they are eating, enjoying the luxury. Shortly after, Benji turns this into fun and games and David follows him around.

There are also two beautiful getting high on top of buildings scenes that most young people can relate to and admire. At the end of the day, it is a beautiful friendship between two cousins. Even though they are very different from one another and lead different lives, their search for heritage and some meaning brings them closer to each other.

Without real pain, there is no real gain. Sometimes we need to look back and remember all the pain our grandparents and ancestors had to go through so that we can live the life we are living today. It’s really important to learn from history and be bigger while supporting one another.

At the end of the movie, Benji and David communicate they truly care about each other and would like to continue their refound connection as much as life allows.

Aside from performances and writing, I salute the film score as well.

I would love to hear any feedback from my readers at any time, feel free to reach out at [email protected] or write your comments under the review.

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