Searchlight Pictures has big expectations for A Real Pain, the second film directed by actor Jesse Eisenberg. His debut, 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World, was divisive but showed that Eisenberg is a real filmmaker who is taking this career step seriously. And that has been rewarded by Searchlight with an awards season date on October 18th.
Following its world premiere at Sundance (where Cortland reviewed it), the trailer for A Real Pain has arrived and it features Eisenberg in front of the camera opposite Succession’s Kieran Culkin.
Written and directed by Eisenberg, the film centers on two cousins who reunite for a tour of Poland in memory of a lost loved one. Also in the cast are Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes.
SYNOPSIS: Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Will A Real Pain be the critically-acclaimed drama that Searchlight hopes it to be? Could we be looking at a sleeper Oscar contender? We will find out this fall.
