Film: A Real Pain

It’s good to see another short film in an era where films approaching three hours have become the norm.

This film tells the story of two cousins who grew up like brothers but have become somewhat estranged in adulthood. They are meeting at the airport to fly to Poland for the first time to explore the roots of their beloved late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.

To do this, they decided to join a small tour group upon reaching Poland. They are both riddled with anxiety but they are different from one another. David (Jesse Eisenberg, who wrote and directed to great acclaim) has the full set; wife, kid, career and home. Meanwhile, Benji (Kieran Culkin) is introduced at the airport, hours before he needs to be there. As I watch him ignore panicky messages from David, I begin to wonder: is he homeless?

I love a tour group, but it’s rarely what the cool kids join. Needless to say, the trip was organised by David. The rest of the group is also retracing family heritage, except for a Rwandan who escaped war and persecution and has developed a close affinity for the Jewish community, ultimately converting. Then we have an older European couple and an American woman recovering from divorce. And the cousins are in bereavement after the loss of their grandmother. So in a way, they are all in recovery.

I found Benji irritating from the beginning and I never warmed to him. The other members of the group could see the hurt he was experiencing—something his cousin recognised as well—but most of them were wonderfully empathetic and supportive. However, unlike the five-star critics, I found this character too irritating for me to fully enjoy the film. Of course, it had dark moments, given its subject matter involving the Holocaust, but I didn’t find it particularly witty. I had sympathy with the excellent British tour guide, who seemed tormented by the almighty responsibility from the start.

I was eager to learn more about the history and explore further aspects of Poland, but perhaps the film did not offer enough of either.

6½/10