A Real Pain (2024)

January 12, 2025 9:51 AM

Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Available to stream in Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video and YouTube. Official Trailer.
posted by Omon Ra (5 comments total)

This is an excellent small indie movie, esp. Kieran Culkin. Superbly written by Jesse Eisenberg as well. Highly recommended.
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:45 AM on January 13 [4 favorites]

This is a lovely cinematic experience, well written with god characterisation, both moving and funny, excellent visuals. Kieran Culkin delivers a sustained man-out-of-place getting many laughs while Eisenberg stunned me with his dramatic turn.

I left and said that it's kind-of simple, a short stint in the lives of a bunch of people, but that's what cinema is good for, it's a great experience. Please: more like this.
posted by k3ninho at 3:38 PM on January 13 [4 favorites]

My wife and I watched this on Saturday night. I enjoyed it, but I likely would have also enjoyed a movie that was just Jesse and Kieran having dinner together in real-time for 90 minutes. Their dynamic was terrific and their personalities are such an interesting contrast.

My wife liked the movie even more than me, and was struck by how Kieran's character was so wildly empathic, but veered chaotically between using his empathy to connect with people, and weaponizing it to push people away.
posted by joelhunt at 6:04 AM on January 14 [2 favorites]

This was a beautiful movie: funny and tragic. The characters were just so well observed.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:33 AM on January 17

A couple of links. This Esquire article on the ending had an interview quote:

Speaking with Total Film, Eisenberg said: “This is a story about how people change and evolve and the way history changes and evolves… It’s the same thing with personal relationships, at some point that thing you want from the other person is not gonna be the thing they’re giving you, and this is kind of what this movie is about. They’re going to love each other for ever, but they’re probably not going to be as close as they have been. That’s the feeling of the movie.

“It’s a bittersweet ending and I guess it’s my take on life, which is, there’s a kind of bittersweetness of things. But I think we would have made a lot more money if he [Benji] went home for dinner with me. I was told by a big Hollywood director ‘if you want to make a billion dollars, have him go home at the end’. I was like ‘Yeah, I don’t think I wanna make that movie’.”

I thought this reddit discussion of neurodiversity in the movie was interesting too.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 1:50 AM on January 18