Jesse Eisenberg’s latest directorial effort—his second feature following 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World—sees two American cousins on an odd couple comedy road trip to Poland to explore their Jewish heritage.
How to watch A Real Pain in New Zealand
A Real Pain is screening in New Zealand cinemas right now.
A Real Pain
What is A Real Pain about?
Cousins David and Benji, who have drifted apart following a traumatic incident that we won’t spoil here, decide to explore their Jewish heritge by going on a tour of Poland, their grandmother’s homeland. A Holocaust tour, to be precise. We did mention this is a comedy, yeah? But a character-driven one, where our two chalk ‘n’ cheese travel buddies try to unravel their own trauma, in contrast with the generational trauma faced by descendents of Holocaust survivors. Eisenberg wrote the screenplay as a thought exercise while wrestling with his own feelings on the subject which, judging from this, are fairly complex.
The cast of A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg is straitlaced David Kaplan; Kieran Culkin is his free-wheeling cousin, Benji Kaplan; Will Sharpe is James; Jennifer Grey is Marcia; Kurt Egyiawan is Eloge; Liza Sadovy is Diane; Daniel Oreskes is Mark; and Ellora Torchia is Priya.
A Real Pain trailer
Why we’re excited about A Real Pain
Eisenberg’s a bit of a gun, really—sharp polymath who, in addition to acting, has written and directed for the stage and contributed a number of literary works to oufits like The New Yorker and McSweeney’s. So we’re more than happy he’s turned his attentions to feature directing. There’s actually a strong history of Holocaust-themed comedy from Jewish creators—take a bow, Mel Brooks—so this isn’t necessarily as outre a topic as it might appear at first glance. We’re keen to see what Eisenberg brings to the table.
