A Real Pain (2024)

A Real Pain (2024)

AVAILABLE ON DISNEY+

Rated 15

Written and Directed by Jessie Eisenberg and co-starring Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain follows the story of two Jewish cousins from America, who have very much grown apart over time. They re-acquaint by embarking on a Jewish History Tour of Poland, as an ode to their recently deceased Jewish and Polish Grandmother - a holocaust survivor - but also to delve into their Jewish heritage, visiting various historically and culturally significant sites along the way.

Without knowing too much about the movie beforehand and seeing it described in places as a comedy, in my opinion - it really isn’t. There are comedic moments throughout but it is more of a drama that centres on a multitude of the cousins’ different pains…from the stresses and emotional troubles of their own personal lives, to the sadness of the realising how they have grown apart so much, their grief for their beloved grandmother and the pain of better understanding the suffering of the Jewish community during the Holocaust during their tour.

There is a comedy undertone but don’t watch this if you are looking for a feel-good, laugh-out-loud, silly sort of comedy. It’s a serious, somewhat dark comedy that is pretty deep. It is slow-paced but really well acted. For me, it goes into the same sort of category of “We Live in Time” with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh….some will love the slow pace but it’s not something I personally enjoy.

If you like the sort of movies that appear in the likes of the Sundance/Cannes Film Festivals, this will be right up your street - there is no question that these two can act - and really well…but it’s just not the sort of movie I’m into and with that I can only give it a modest 6.4/10.