A Real Pain (2024)

21 Nov 2024

Rating: 2.5/5

Kieran Culkin carries this graceless, self-important movie over the finish line — not with a character, but with a messy but charismatic foil to whatever the scene needs.

The film mines Majdanek and a Holocaust tour for moments of emotional resonance amid the humor, but it’s all background fodder for Culkin’s performance.

The performances are stellar, the non-stop Chopin score drove me up the wall, and the story is one we’ve seen too many times for Eisenberg to bring so little to the table.


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