A Real Pain

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Previously, Jesse Eisenberg made "When You Finish Saving the World" which was interesting but unfortunately a bit annoying. Here, Eisenberg's direction and writing for this movie shows he has massively improved as many of the characters are interesting and engaging, good dialogue conversations, and great performances, especially from Kieran Culkin who steals the show in the entire movie.

The narrative explores family history and complicated bondings as each of the themes and explorations on the subjects were handled well and it was funny, emotional, and compelling to observe. Including beautiful camerawork, good soundtrack, and conversations that felt real, genuine, and engaging to observe.

Eisenberg's approach on the chemistry, structure and pacing was good as he has created a really good compelling and personal story about family history and the true meanings of bondings and relationships. There were some soundtrack choices that felt a little out of place. But overall, Eisenberg improved himself and I look forward to see what else he could bring to the today.