Kieran Culkin is 'clearly awards-bound' after career-best role in A Real Pain

A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg's latest directorial effort, had its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, 13 October to rave reviews.

The Social Network actor and his co-star Kieran Culkin stepped out onto the red carpet in their finest suits to celebrate the film, which tells the story of estranged cousins going on an odyssey through their family's traumatic past. David (Eisenberg) and Benji's (Culkin) grandmother has died, and in her will asks that they go on a trip to her home in Poland where she lived before the Nazis forced her from it when they rounded up the Jews in the 1940s.

Read more: The most exciting films at the BFI London Film Festival 2024

Culkin was said to give a career best performance in the film, following his Emmy-award winning portrayal of Roman Roy in Succession in impressive fashion. While Eisenberg has been praised for his work as both writer and director, with some critics remarking that he has a bright future in filmmaking.

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A Real Pain at BFI London Film Festival

Kieran Culkin and his wife Jazz Charton at the A Real Pain premiere held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday, October 13. (Getty Images)

The Telegraph's Tim Robey said A Real Pain is "ruefully perceptive and laugh-out-loud funny, often at the same time" which is no mean feat, adding that it felt like a nice throwback to the indie comedies of yesteryear with its wry humour.

It was Culkin that impressed the most, Robey said: "Culkin has never had a better film role, or possibly any role, save for Roman Roy in Succession. He makes Benji a deeply credible mass of contradictions – depressive yet buoyant, a selfish problem child who also sees through to the core of other people."

Robey said Culkin is "clearly awards-bound" as a result of his work in A Real Pain, while it was admirable how well Eisenberg did as director to create "a smart pairing of opposites" between himself and the Succession star.

Following the film's premiere at the festival, several attendees shared their thoughts of the film on X with one person writing: "Jesse Eisenberg’s script for A REAL PAIN is complex, specifically his exploration of David and Benji’s relationship as their relationship is built on loving and hating each other for the things the other wishes they had but in reality everyone carries their own struggles."

Another critic wrote: "Dealing with generational trauma under the disguise of a travelogue, Jesse Eisenberg's A REAL PAIN is a cathartic experience for its two lead characters with heartfelt and hilarious performances from both Eisenberg and Oscar contender Kieran Culkin. Screams crowdpleaser to me. Love the nod on its first scene/last scene parallelism."

While one attendee said: "Loved A Real Pain so so much... Funny, thought provoking and poignant. Kieron Culkin gives an incredible performance. The emotion in his eyes is truly heartbreaking. Another film I cannot wait to watch again..."

Watch the trailer for A Real Pain:

A Real Pain first had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January, where it was picked up by Searchlight Pictures for distribution and where several critics were able to see and review it.

At the time Deadline's Damon Wise remarked that Culkin gives "a career-high performance" in the movie, while it is also "proof that Eisenberg has ready to transcend the label of actor-director"

Variety's Owen Gleiberman felt much the same, writing that Eisenberg joins an elite category of "those rare actors — Greta Gerwig, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper — who turn out to be born filmmakers" because the film is "a delight and a revelation".

Similarly, The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney wrote of Eisenberg's approach to directing: "With A Real Pain, he demonstrates impeccable judgment and great skill at balancing sardonic wit with piercing solemnity in a movie full of feeling, in which no emotion is unearned."

A Real Pain premieres in cinemas on 10 January 2025.