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A Real Pain
Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
2024 · Directed by Jesse Eisenberg · 90 min · Comedy · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 19 frames
Tagline
Join the family.
Plot
At John F. Kennedy International Airport, Benji Kaplan waits for his once-close cousin, David, to arrive so they can board their flight. Using the funds left by their late grandmother, the Kaplans plan a Jewish heritage tour through Poland in hopes of seeing the home she grew up in and connecting with their family history. Their contrasting personalities spark several arguments: Benji is a free-spirited and outspoken drifter who criticizes David for losing his former passion and spontaneity, while David is a pragmatic and reserved family man who struggles with Benji's unfiltered outbursts and lack of direction in life.
Arriving at Warsaw, David and Benji meet with their tour group members: Mark and Diane, a retired married couple from Shaker Heights, Ohio; Marcia, a recent divorcee from California; and Eloge, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide who converted to Judaism after moving to Winnipeg. The tour is led by James, a mild-mannered, knowledgeable, gentile guide from Yorkshire. On the first day, the tour visits the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, Grzybów Square, and the Warsaw Uprising Monument. Benji engages the whole group in assisting him in a reenactment of the Warsaw Uprising around the latter sculpture. An embarrassed David stands apart and takes pictures using the members' phones. In the evening, the two of them smoke marijuana on the rooftop of their hotel.
The group travels to Lublin by train on the second day. Benji is unsettled by the incongruity of traveling first class on a Holocaust tour through former Nazi German-occupied Poland. David falls asleep and Benji does not wake him, which results in the cousins missing their stop. After finding their way back, James leads the group through the city's cultural sights, such as the Grodzka Gate and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Benji criticizes James's lack of authenticity during their visit to the cemetery and challenges his focus on facts and statistics. Benji continues to misbehave and make uncomfortable comments during a group dinner later that evening. When he leaves the table, David opens up to the group about the complex nature of their relationship, revealing that the two have drifted apart after Benji attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills six months earlier.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Jesse Eisenberg
- Cinematography: Michał Dymek
- Edited by: Robert Nassau
- Production design: Mela Melak
- Produced by: Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Ali Herting, Jennifer Semler
Cast
- Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan
- Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan
- Will Sharpe as James
- Jennifer Grey as Marcia
- Kurt Egyiawan as Eloge
- Liza Sadovy as Diane
- Daniel Oreskes as Mark
- Ellora Torchia as Priya
- Banner Eisenberg as Abe
- Olha Bosova as Flight Attendant
Production
- Country: Poland, United States of America
- Language: English, Polish
- Studios: Fruit Tree, Topic Studios, Extreme Emotions, Rego Park
- Budget: $3,000,000
- Box office: $24,856,027
- Themes: pain, suicide attempt, holocaust (shoah), vacation, grief, jewish american, poland, cousin relationship, reflection, dramedy
On this film
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