Back to trending
A Real Pain

A Real Pain

Comedy · Drama · 2024

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.

Movie details

A Real Pain

“Join the family.”

2024 Comedy · Drama 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A Real Pain?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Beaches

Beaches

Comedy · 1988

A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.

The Last Word

The Last Word

Comedy · 2017

A retired businesswoman – who tries to control everything around her – decides to write her own obituary. A young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, and the result is a life-altering friendship.

Pieces of April

Pieces of April

Comedy · 2003

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

Comedy · 2023

Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who've always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.

Hard Truths

Hard Truths

Drama · 2024

Pansy is a woman so full of rage that every interaction she has devolves into lashing out, whether at her utterly cowed husband and son, or random strangers who have the temerity to address her. In contrast, her younger sister Chantelle lives with her two vivacious daughters and plies a successful trade as a hairdresser, putting clients at their ease all day long. Yet beneath Pansy’s abrasive exterior are hints of a more fragile psyche, one motivated by fear and damaged by repressed pain.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Comedy · 2023

When her family moves from New York City to New Jersey, an 11-year-old girl navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.

Ana

Ana

Drama · 2020

Ana meets Rafa in a chance encounter and they embark on a road trip to try and save him from bankruptcy, or worse.

My Girl

My Girl

Comedy · 1991

Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse...

The Shack

The Shack

Drama · 2017

A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.

Half Brothers

Half Brothers

Comedy · 2020

Mexican aviation exec Renato is shocked to learn that he has an American half-brother he never knew about: free-spirited Asher. They are forced on a road trip together, tracing the path their father took from Mexico to the U.S.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jesse Eisenberg

Written by

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg

David Kaplan

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin

Benji Kaplan

Will Sharpe

Will Sharpe

James

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey

Marcia

Kurt Egyiawan

Kurt Egyiawan

Eloge

Liza Sadovy

Liza Sadovy

Diane

Daniel Oreskes

Daniel Oreskes

Mark

Court is in session

Put A Real Pain on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.