A Real Pain (2024)

Funny and Moving, ‘A Real Pain’ Explores Grief, Family, and History Jesse Eisenberg’s confident direction steers the poignant, acerbic ‘A Real Pain,’ with Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin in top form as dysfunctional cousins.

Jesse Eisenberg has long been an acquired taste as an actor, but as a director, his second feature, ‘A Real Pain,’ shows tremendous growth from his 2022 debut behind the camera, ‘When You Finish Saving the World.’ While that film felt incomplete and abrasive in ways, ‘A Real Pain’ brings tremendous emotional sensitivity and a more focused wit to the story of two cousins traveling together to the land of their family’s heritage, and the issues that journey brings up.