Premiering at Sundance where it won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain (review here) emerged as one of the most crowd-pleasing and mainstream films at the festival. That’s why Searchlight Pictures was quick to snap it up and give it an awards season release date on November 1st. Today brings a new trailer for the family comedy that pairs Eisenberg with Succession star Kieran Culkin.
Eisenberg and Culkin star as cousins who couldn’t be more different. One is successful and mature, the other…well, is the opposite. Together, they travel to Poland to visit the family home and honor the memory of their grandmother, but personality clashes and old grudges threaten the journey.
A Real Pain is Eisenberg’s sophomore effort as director, following 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World, which also premiered at Sundance that year. Eisenberg also wrote the script and produced, joined by producers Emma Stone and Dave McCrary. It’s like an Adventureland reunion. Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes co-star.
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 tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
