The buzz is building for Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain. His sophomore effort as a director, A Real Pain debuted at Sundance (review here) and it’s one of those movies that emerges from the festival and nobody ever really stops talking about all year. Now as we enter the awards season, that talk is beginning to payoff with many seeing it as potential Best Picture nominee. Not bad for a guy whose directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, was just two years ago.
A Real Pain stars Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, both giving tremendous performances as David and Benji, oil ‘n water cousins who embark on a trip to Poland to connect with their Jewish heritage and to honor their dead grandmother’s childhood home, who lived their prior to the Holocaust. The film finds them grappling with a legacy of pain and trauma while dealing with their individual concerns and modern troubles, all while touring concentration with a Holocaust tour group.
What A Real Pain grapples with is generational trauma and how it carries into the present day. David and Benji couldn’t be more different. David has a family and a stable job, but is plagued by an almost debilitating anxiety. Benji is unfiltered, unpredictable, mercurial; he can be the kindest person one moment and cruel the next.
With the film open in theaters nationwide, I had a chance to spend a few minutes talking with Jesse Eisenberg. We discussed the origin of the film and how it helped Eisenberg to explore feelings about his heritage while writing the screenplay and starring as David, something he hadn’t intended to do. We also talked about the incredible performance of Kieran Culkin and how he impacted the entire production.
It was a real treat speaking with Eisenberg. I hope you’ll check out the interview below. A Real Pain is in theaters now.
