A Real Pain – Eisenberg’s Successful Sophomore
Written by Dr. Zoe Crombie
Plenty of actors turn to directing in their lifetime. Perhaps desiring a greater degree of artistic control, or simply wanting to shift gears in their career, some have even become better known for the latter than the former; Sofia Coppola, John Cassavetes, and Greta Gerwig, amongst others, are likely better known now for their work behind the camera than in front of it. The transition from one to the next is always a fascinating period in an artist’s filmography, and right now, Jesse Eisenberg is hitting his stride as he moves deftly into the director’s chair with his second feature.
Directed by and starring Eisenberg alongside Kieran Culkin as a pair of Jewish cousins on a road trip around Poland, A Real Pain captures our twisted relationship with our past and how it impacts our present. Casting his screen partner based entirely on his ‘essence’, having not seen his other work, Eisenberg selected a perfect foil in Succession star Culkin, whose lively, sardonic performance contrasts Eisenberg’s own existential neuroses. The result is a hilarious but affecting take on one of the darkest moments in European history, granted both levity and pathos by the nuances of the writing and performances at its core.
Proving Eisenberg’s talent behind the camera, A Real Pain doesn’t reinvent the wheel – instead, it’s a poignant, genuinely funny road movie that makes the most of the captivating chemistry of its central pairing.
See A Real Pain between the 31st Jan - 6th Feb
