Film Screening: "A Real Pain"

The Jewish Studies Course 175CNS "Holocaust Memory through the Ages: Memoirs, Memorials, Movies" screens the film "A Real Pain."

A Real Pain (2024) Directed by Jesse Eisenberg | United States/Poland | 90 min

Blending sharp humor with poignant reflection, A Real Pain follows two estranged Jewish American cousins, David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), who travel to Poland after the death of their beloved grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. Joining a Jewish heritage tour, they visit sites connected to Jewish life, memory, and the Holocaust while seeking a deeper understanding of their family's past.

As the journey unfolds, long-simmering tensions between the cousins rise to the surface. David is cautious, practical, and reserved; Benji is charismatic, impulsive, and emotionally raw. Their contrasting personalities shape both their encounters with Poland's complex history and their efforts to navigate grief, memory, and family relationships.

Set against the backdrop of Holocaust remembrance and contemporary Jewish identity, A Real Pain offers a moving exploration of how later generations connect to inherited histories of trauma and loss. By balancing moments of comedy, vulnerability, and self-discovery, the film raises thought-provoking questions about memory, authenticity, and what it means to carry the legacy of the past into the present.

Written, directed by, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, the film received critical acclaim for its sensitive treatment of intergenerational memory and for Kieran Culkin's Academy Award-winning performance.