A Real Pain,’ directed and co-written by Jesse Eisenberg, deals with self identity, bereavement and the bonds that tie family members together across generations. It combines humor with a sense of sadness, as it is set in Poland, where two cousins, Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan and Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan, reunite after the death of their grandmother, to connect with their Jewish roots.
The Trailer: A Glimpse into the Depths of Family Bonds
The use of introspection and humor in the A Real Pain’s trailer has been brilliantly showcased. First, there’s their grandmother’s death; David and Benji have a look of indifference—especially Benji—when Ben and David decide to go to Poland, which was somewhat of an awkward trip. As the trailer develops, we begin to see aspects of their characters, such as a historian David, who is a lonesome and a bit on the obsessive side, and a careless Benji. There are also some touching moments included in-between, and that consist of: the time when they reached out to Poles and paid respect to the Jews who went through the holocaust. Surely fun will follow as we witness their crazy night at a bar in Poland. Based on the trailer, the movie is a promise of something that is focused on serious topics with some lighthearted moments that will capture the audience’s attention to a very personal yet global story.
The Cast: Bringing Characters to Life
- Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan: A historian searching for meaning amidst family loss, David is the intellectual core of the story, whose determination to preserve family history drives the plot.
- Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan: A free-spirited cousin whose skepticism about the trip is slowly chipped away, revealing hidden depths and vulnerabilities. Culkin’s sharp wit and emotional range shine in this role.
- Eva Reiter as Marta: A young Polish woman who becomes an unexpected guide and ally to the Kaplans, offering a local perspective on their journey.
- Anna Smigielska as Kasia: A mysterious artist whose family’s history intertwines with the Kaplans in surprising ways.
Synopsis: A Journey of Discovery
Before watching this documentary, I did not know any Polish Jew, let alone having any family in Poland. On account of them being relatively simple people, even my grandma and grandpa did not tell such tales about themselves that my family contains members who lived and died in Poland. But as life turned out, when my grandmother passed away and my mom had to deal with all these things, my grandma was buried in Poland. This particular part of her life was unknown to the family and having only heard of such things from my great grandfather, it was entirely new. My grandfather had the entire Polish background, and my grandmother marrying him meant that such stories slipped into the hands of history. I was instantly reminded of one scene from my grandparents photo album containing my grandmother dressed in full Polish attire, in cringy cuts made from home, and as real and powerful as any of those.
It is easier to make everyone join the conspiracy, however what turned out to be astonishing and sinister in equal measures was the amount of emotion that a foreigner would feel as I awkwardly stumbled upon my relatives. Upon mapping through Oxford and Liverpool, I learned about the joint history of dominant classes and ethnic groups from my local encyclopedias around my area, hoping that such efforts towards eliminating memory loss would not go in vain so as time would erase Shawcross, Goodman, and Abba, in the name of survivors buried in their memories that the conveyor belt through millions will forever encode within them. The one key aspect that rejoices every time I crossed these boundaries was the intricate beauty that history embodies, resulting in my focus shifting towards Rebbeca and all the memories shared with her. Dozens of relatives I never knew I had were found in these photos, which were gifted to me by one of my only aunts.
