Among the films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the second feature film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. Humorous, heartfelt, emotionally honest and altogether moving, it was the best film I saw at the fest. It’s called A Real Pain, which stars Eisenberg and newly-awarded Emmy winner Kieran Culkin as a pair of cousins who, following the death of their grandmother, travel to Poland to join a Holocaust tour. Seeing the historical sites of their family’s history, they are given the chance to reconnect to their ancestry as well as with each other after time spent apart.

With eyeglasses and a general nervousness, David (Jesse Eisenberg) is introverted, anxious, and altogether cut off from his emotions. He’s less than comfortable leaving his wife, child, and job behind to vacation with his free-spirited cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin), whose pajama pants and tousled hair reveal the responsibility-free life he lives.

After reconnecting at the airport, the cousins touch down at their first hotel in Poland (where Benji has already pre-shipped his large package of pot, which he consumes in small doses along the way. They join the rest of their travel group, along with their guide (excellently played by Will Sharp). Although the trip and stops along the way are all pre-planned, what is not as predictable are Benji’s emotions, which David is surprised to see fluctuate wildly, from delightful to distraught.

Benji is reeling hard from his grandmother’s passing, she being the “only one who understood him,” as he shares with David. The group’s daily activities visiting memorial sites and gravestones begin to bother Benji, ultimately pushing him past the brink where David and Benji are forced to acknowledge a troubling truth that lies between them, as well as confront the emotional distress they feel within themselves.

In part, A Real Pain is just a wonderfully made tour movie and will delight anyone looking to take a lovely-looking trip through the beautiful historic Polish city and countryside. The film is warmly shot, and montages set to Chopin’s classical piano music (a smart inclusion, he being a Polish composer) create a calm, intimate peacefulness over this sacred ground.

On a deeper level, the film is an emotive exploration into the personal pain we all may experience, and the different ways we choose to feel, or not feel it. Eisenberg’s directorial debut, 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World, was a smart, sharply observed suburban comedy about a disconnected mother and son. But where that film was less inclined to dig deep into emotionally painful terrain, here, Eisenberg (a neurotic overthinker) bravely confronts emotions head-on. By portraying David (essentially an Eisenberg stand-in) as someone repressing emotion through medication and denial, along with Benji as the uninhibited but volatile opposite, we see the film’s biggest statement: that choosing to address and express one’s internal pain is necessary, however uncomfortable it may be.

Bringing these themes to life is the singular Kieran Culkin; the “mercurial sprite” who gives the film its magical ingredient. Culkin’s charisma is so singular and spontaneous, making for scenes that are as hilarious as they are heartfelt. A scene in which the group tour stops for a photo in front of a set of WWII statues becomes an exercise in improvisational acting, in which Benji directs them to pose as each of the different military members, bringing an unexpectedly life-affirming moment to the group. Similarly, the fearlessly frenetic Kieran Culkin breathes life into a story that is made even better with his presence.

A Real Pain proves that Jesse Eisenberg should continue to not only make films but confront emotions head-on. Searchlight acquired it for $10 million (one of the higher buys from the fest), so audiences will be able to see this emotionally stirring life-affirming film, giving us the opportunity to process our own pain as well.

1h 30m.