With only his second directorial effort, Jesse Eisenberg is quickly establishing himself as a discerning, humanistic filmmaker with a uniquely resonant point of view. In addition to writing and producing A Real Pain, Eisenberg directs himself for the first time, stepping in front of the camera to inhabit the seemingly semi-autobiographical character of David Kaplan. David is tightly wound (as a fellow David, I can relate), but he is a successful, happily married father (sadly, to this, I cannot). Taking a break from his demanding job, David accompanies his cousin-who’s-more-like-a-brother, Benji (the excellent Kieran Culkin), a burnout going through a bit of a rough patch, on a guided tour of Poland to honor their beloved and recently deceased grandmother. Set against the crushing backdrop of their family history, years of more intimate personal strife bubble to the surface as David and Benji struggle to reconcile the ways they’ve grown apart.

Benji, a deeply emotional soul, resents the buttoned-up façade his cousin has adopted in adulthood. Remembering the bundle of anxious raw nerve endings that used to spend all night wandering New York City with him in a drunken daze, Benji refuses to accept David’s apparently well-adjusted persona. David, on the other hand, is exhausted by Benji, who rejects – or perhaps is incapable of – growing up. As is often the case, though, Benji’s lack of decorum is a mask used to disguise simmering agony. Watching Culkin effortlessly oscillate between being the ever-charming life of the party and a manic-depressive fountain of tears is the great melancholic joy of A Real Pain.

Culkin is a revelation in this beautifully restrained dramedy. After earning an Emmy for his tremendous work as Roman Roy on Succession, Culkin crafts a performance that may signal more awards gold in the near future. In just 90 minutes, Culkin generates more audience tears – both from laughter and empathy – than a lachrymator deployed directly into the theater could ever hope to achieve. He’s a genuine 4DX can of mace, and the sheer number of times he transforms a scene from hilarious to heart-wrenching in seconds is truly something to behold.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in 'A Real Pain' Searchlight Pictures via MovieStillsDB

Meanwhile, Eisenberg plays to his strengths on both sides of the camera, proving that he alone is best suited to harness his specific neurotic energy. Eisenberg, the director (and writer), still finds time to give Eisenberg, the actor, a beautiful monologue that showcases his tear-jerking capabilities. In an affectingly delivered speech, full of the kind of emotional oversharing that can clear out a dinner party, Eisenberg’s David finally comes undone, re-contextualizing Benji’s character in the audience’s eyes and codifying his detached ethos in a manner that will feel all too familiar for many viewers.

Despite Benji’s accusations, David has not become devoid of emotion with age. Instead, his feelings are buried in the misguided belief that his pain is not special enough to be shared with anyone. The lie Eisenberg’s David tells himself is one that many, myself included, have told: that sharing pain is a burden to those you share it with. Just as Benji and David’s tour guide – the amusingly dry, non-Jewish James (Will Sharpe), with whom Benji frequently clashes – seeks to dispel the false notion that the Jewish people were willing victims of Nazi oppression, Eisenberg’s film seeks to eradicate the lie that expressing your feelings inherently burdens those most interested in hearing them. Through an act of communal grieving, two people driven apart by life’s circumstances are drawn closer together than ever before, coming to terms with much more than the passing of a matriarchal figure.

It's a poignant conceit for a film, made all the more moving by A Real Pain’s resistance to falling into the beckoning chasm of schmaltz. Eisenberg finds a gnawingly ambiguous note to end his film on, leaving the audience to wonder whether the journey they’ve just witnessed will be a catalyst for permanent change or merely an emotionally supercharged vacation that will fade into fond memories once the routine of daily life resumes, leaving little space in either character’s life for the other. It’s a gut-wrenchingly real final note, one that somberly acknowledges the simple truth that, despite cinema's ability to transform characters within a condensed timeframe, the habitual nature of life often overpowers the desire for drastic change. The film comes full circle, closing on a shot identical to the one it opens with, throwing the lasting effect of the cousins’ rekindled bond into question. Yet, it confirms that Culkin is a remarkable talent capable of seamlessly guiding audiences through polarized emotional states, while Eisenberg’s understated directorial style is not one to be overlooked.

A Real Pain releases in theaters on November 1, 2024.