The film follows two Jewish-American cousins who both travel to Poland to honor their late grandmother as they take part in a heritage group tour through the country to connect with their late grandmother and their roots. Along the way, they deal with their growing differences as well as deal with their grandmother’s past and the current state of their lives. Jesse Eisenberg’s screenplay is straightforward in its narrative as it is a character study of sorts in the two protagonists, he creates in the strait-laced family man David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) and the free-spirited Benji Kaplan (Keiran Culkin). Using the money they inherited from their grandmother, they travel from New York City to Poland where they part of this group tour that include the retiree couple from Shaker Heights, Ohio in Mark and Diane (Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadosky, respectively), the recently-divorced Marcia (Jennifer Grey), a Rwandan genocide survivor in Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan) who converted to Judaism, and their British tour guide in James (Will Sharpe).
Eisenberg’s script brings a lot of depth to the people that David and Benji are with, as Mark and Diane are interested in learning about the former’s family roots while Marcia is also trying to find herself having gone through some recent events in her life. Eloge’s interest in Poland has more to do with his own interest in Judaism as well as wanting to learn the similarities of what he went through and the Jewish community during the Holocaust. During this trip, David and Benji deal with one another as the latter often speaks out over certain things while hiding things about himself that David would later share with the group. The two also leave the group early to see their grandmother’s home in Krasnystaw to honor her with Benji wanting to go there due to the close relationship he had with her.
Eisenberg’s direction is straightforward in terms of its compositions as it is shot on locations in Poland as well as some locations in New York City including JFK International Airport. Notably as he aims for intimate compositions in his presentations for scenes in the airplanes, trains, and buses as well as scenes in hotel rooms and restaurants through close-ups and medium shots. Eisenberg also uses wide shots for some of the locations including shots in various landmarks in cities and towns of Poland include Warsaw, Lublin, and Krasnystaw. Even as Eisenberg would create scenes such as Benji and the tourists reenacting the Warsaw Uprising with its monument behind them as it highlights Benji’s willingness to keep things lively to make the tour a bit more fun for everyone. It is among these lively moments that Eisenberg put into the film though the tour is an exploration of one of the most horrific events of the 20th century. Eisenberg also play into the differences between David and Benji with the former often sending phone messages to his wife back in New York City whenever he is alone while Benji would wander in a hotel where he and David would go on a roof to smoke some marijuana that Benji smuggled.
Eisenberg also plays into the darker elements of the trip as it relates to certain places that James takes the group to including a gravesite where Benji becomes annoyed by James being factual and to be aware that these are real people. It is among some of the somber moments in the film, including a dinner where David reveals to the group about Benji who went to the bathroom. One of the film’s most stark moments involves the group visiting the Mjdanek concentration/extermination camp as Eisenberg keep things simple and at a distance. Even in some of the buildings as it is among the stunning and discomforting moments in the film. Eisenberg still maintains a balance of comedy and tragedy as it plays into David and Benji’s trip to Krasnystaw to find their late grandmother’s home as well as the idea of what is next for them. Overall, Eisenberg crafts a touching and comical film about two mismatched Jewish-American cousins traveling to Poland to honor their late grandmother.
Cinematographer Michal Dymek does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography in capturing the naturalistic look of the locations in Poland in the daytime as well as some of the usage of light for some of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Robert Nassau does amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts to play into the some of the comical moments as well as giving the film some offbeat moments in the drama. Production designer Mela Melak does excellent work with the look of David’s home in New York City in its interiors as well as the look of some of the hotel rooms that they stay in. Costume designer Malgorzata Fudala does nice work with the costumes as it is casual that all the characters wear including a baseball cap that David wears and the loose clothing that Benji wears.
Visual effects supervisor Yuval Levy does terrific work with the visual effects as it set-dressing in some of the locations including bits in New York City and the videos that David has on his phone. Sound editor Tim Korn does superb work with the sound in the way a location sounds as well as in some of the sparse moments in the film. Music supervisor Erick Eiser does wonderful work in compiling the music as it features piano pieces by Frederic Chopin that is performed by Tzvi Erez as it adds a somber mood to the film.
The casting by Jessica Kelly is marvelous as it feature a couple of small roles from Ellora Torchia as David’s wife Priya and Jakub Pruski as their son Abe. Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy are superb in their respective roles as the retired couple Mark and Diane as they travel to Poland for the former to learn about his ancestor’s homeland as they both make some witty comments about themselves and their trip. Kurt Egyiawan is fantastic as Eloge as a Rwandan genocide survivor who converted to Judaism as he is someone fascinated by the religion which plays into his own conversion as well as wanting to understand the similarities of how he and those from the Holocaust endured. Will Sharpe is brilliant as the British tour guide James who is full of facts and such though, he is taken aback by Benji’s criticism for not being emotionally connected into the landmarks and such.
Jennifer Grey is amazing as Marcia as California divorcee who just moved back to New York as she travels to Poland to find herself as well as her own roots as she is also going through her own emotional issues in relation to her life. Jesse Eisenberg is incredible as David Kaplan as the straitlaced cousin with a wife and child who is anxious and wanting to be things on schedule where he also deals with his cousin’s behavior as well as things that he is upset about towards him. Finally, there’s Kieran Culkin in a phenomenal performance as Benji Kaplan as a free-spirited slacker who has no filter in what he says while is also someone with some issues. Eisenberg and Culkin together are a joy to watch as they bring a lot of chemistry as these two mismatched cousins who deal with each other as well as why they are not as close as they used to be.
A Real Pain is a sensational film by Jesse Eisenberg that features great performances from Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. Along with its ensemble cast, usage of Frederic Chopin’s piano pieces, gorgeous imagery, and study of two men going on a journey to honor their grandmother. The film is a funny as well as heartfelt story about two cousins who try to reconnect despite their differences by going to Poland to learn about themselves and their late grandmother. In the end, A Real Pain is a phenomenal film by Jesse Eisenberg.
© thevoid99 2025
The film is about a group of people who travel to Sweden for an event that happens every 90 years in which is part of a midsummer festival where a couple hope to repair their relationship following a young woman’s family tragedy. It is a film that explore these people who are attending an once-in-a-lifetime event that is filled with all sorts of intrigue as one of them is from that world as he invites his friends to this ceremony unaware of its intentions. Ari Aster’s screenplay is largely straightforward in its narrative and structure yet he also brings in a lot of complexities not just into these ceremonies at this event in the middle of Sweden but also the people attending this event as well as the inhabitants in the small and tranquil community that is cut off from the modern world. Even as they hold certain rituals that are dark and violent that is shocking to its outsiders who would all unknowingly play a role into this big midsummer event. The film opens in the U.S. during the winter where its protagonist Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) is trying to reach her mentally-ill sister while calling her parents only to learn that her sister had killed them and herself in a murder-suicide event that left Dani traumatized.
Her boyfriend Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor) is spending time with her despite the fact that he’s thinking about breaking up with her as he is hoping to go to Sweden for this event for his anthropology studies where he would join fellow students Mark (Will Poulter) and Josh (William Jackson Harper) for the trip as they’re invited by their friend in the Swedish student Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) who is from this remote community. Dani joins in much to the reluctance of everyone except Pelle who wants to help her with her grief as they arrive at the rural area of Halsingland in this ceremony known as Harga as they meet a British couple in Simon and Connie (Archie Madekwe and Ellora Torchia, respectively) who are the few outsiders attending this event. Yet, things do become weird that involve certain psychedelics and such while Dani, Christian, and their friends witness these events that are considered shocking and violent as it leads to all sorts of trouble. Some would want to leave only to disappear mysteriously while revelations would occur during the event with Dani dealing with her relationship with Christian.
Aster’s direction is definitely mesmerizing in terms of not just his meticulous approach to framing and compositions but also the atmosphere he presents. With the scenes in the U.S. shot on location in Utah and Brooklyn, New York, much of the film is shot on location in Hungary with some of it shot on location in Sweden to play into the Scandinavian landscape as well as the fact that there’s barely any nighttime in this world that these characters are in. The first 20 minutes is set in the U.S. where Aster creates these tight compositions that do play into Dani’s own drama as well as a scene where her family are killed by her own sister along with this unique tracking shot of Dani walking into the bathroom of her own apartment and then being in a bathroom inside an airplane where she is having an emotional episode. When the film arrives in Sweden at this tranquil and open-spaced community, Aster’s direction definitely gets broader as it is shot largely during the day.
The usage of wide and medium shots add to the scope of the commune as it include houses and such where people live but also landscapes and such for certain ceremonies. Even in how Aster would create these careful framing and compositions such as a scene where Josh is trying to get a closer look into a book that relates to the ritual as he is shown in a close-up in one room and then it cuts to the same close-up but in another room. It is among these moments that play into Aster’s style but there are also these surreal moments such as a scene late in the second act where Dani takes part of a contest that would be crucial to the film’s third act. Even as it lead to revelations about her own tragedy as well as her own relationship with Christian who would go into his own personal journey that has him playing a key role in the third act. Notably as it play into this final ceremony as there is so much at stake with everyone playing a role with Dani being the most crucial as it follows her own journey from tragedy and heartache. Overall, Aster crafts an evocative yet eerie film about a group of college students including a young couple attending an once-in-a-lifetime event that is filled with dark rituals.
Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lights for the scenes in the U.S. in its interior settings including at the house in Sweden while a lot of the exterior lighting in Sweden that is filled with vibrant colors that are heightened with some natural lighting in some scenes. Editor Lucian Johnston does excellent work with the editing as it has some stylish moments but also some straight cuts that help play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Henrik Svensson, with set decorators Klara Alfredson Jofs Svensson and Zsuzsanna Svertecki plus art directors Csaba Lodi, Richard T. Olson, Nille Svensson, and Eszter Takacs, does amazing work with the look of the houses at the commune as well as a few places and such that serve as a sense of importance to the commune. Costume designer Andrea Flesch does fantastic work with the costumes such as the white clothing for all of the people at the commune including the casual look from its visitors.
Hair supervisor Monika Toth and makeup supervisor Katalin Jakots, with prosthetics makeup designer Ivan Poharnok, does brilliant work with the look of a key character in the film as well as the design of some of the gory elements in the film. Special effects supervisor Gabor Kiszelly and visual effects supervisor Gergely Takacs do terrific work with the visual effects as it play into some of the psychedelics the visitors take as it adds a surreal element to the film. Sound designer Ruy Garcia and sound editor Gene Park do superb work with the sound as it help play into some of the natural elements of the location as well as other sounds that help add to the sense of horror in the film. The film’s music by Bobby Krlic is phenomenal for its haunting and eerie music score that relies largely on vocals and folk instrument that play into the sense of tradition in this ritual that these characters deal with while music supervisor Joe Rudge compiles a couple of songs such as a piece of music by Freez at a restaurant early in the film and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) for the film’s final credits.
The casting by Jessica Kelly and Jeanette Klintberg is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Klaudia Csanyi as Dani’s troubled sister Terri, Zsolt Bojari and Gabriella Fon as Dani’s parents, Liv Mjones as a commune resident in Ulla, Hampus Hallberg as a young man in Ingemar who invited Simon and Connie, Mats Blomgren as an elder in Odd, Isabelle Grill as a red-headed young woman in Maja who takes a liking towards Christian, and Bjorn Andersen as an old man who plays a key role in one of the first rituals at the event. Archie Madekwe and Ellora Torchia are superb in their respective roles as the young British couple Simon and Connie as two people who are invited by Ingemar to this event unaware of what is going on as they would later disappear. Will Poulter is fantastic as Mark as a college student who is more interested in getting stoned and getting laid where he ends up rubbing some of the residents at the commune the wrong way.
William Jackson Harper is excellent as Josh as an African-American anthropology student who is hoping to learn more for his thesis only to be at odds with Christian over who should write the thesis as he is hoping to get all of this information into the outside world. Vilhelm Blomgren is brilliant as Pelle as a Swedish student who invites everyone to Sweden for this big event without stating their intentions while is also hoping to help Dani as he too endured his own family tragedy. Jack Reynor is amazing as Christian Hughes as Dani’s boyfriend and an anthropology student who is eager to go to Sweden for his studies but is also secretly hoping to break-up with Dani where he finds himself as an object of affection for a young woman at the commune unaware of the role he’s playing. Finally, there’s Florence Pugh in a phenomenal performance as Dani Ardor as an American psychology student troubled by family tragedy as she is unaware of Christian’s intentions where she travels to Sweden as a way to escape from her issues only to deal with a lot. It is a performance that showcases Pugh at her most vulnerable as well as someone that is trying to find some form of solace and a sense of belonging as it is a career-defining performance from Pugh.
Midsommar is a spectacular film from Ari Aster that features a great leading performance from Florence Pugh. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous locations, ravishing visuals, themes of loss and trauma, and its eerie yet evocative music score. The film is truly an intoxicating yet haunting film that explore people attending this once-in-a-lifetime event that is filled with dark rituals and violence that play into a world that is disconnected with the modern world. In the end, Midsommar is a magnificent film from Ari Aster.
Ari Aster Films: Hereditary - Beau is Afraid
© thevoid99 2022
