A Real Pain is the second film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg (below right), best known in one demographic group as Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in another as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. His characters are generally smart, fast-talking, and at least one step ahead of whatever character he’s interacting with. A Real Pain announces the arrival of a major director, one who is young and sharp without being condescending. Eisenberg seems to be this generation’s Woody Allen. He writes, directs, and acts in his own films. He is Jewish and isn’t hesitant to bring that into the forefront. Like Allen’s films, there is a refreshing indie feel to this film, with notes of great humor and the occasional deep dive into seriousness that fortunately lacks the older director’s fixation with death.

Considering the plot of the film, which has two cousins traveling to Poland to see where their grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust lived, this film could easily have tipped in directions of unearned profundity, jarring frivolity, or a mashup of ingredients that don’t cohere. Miraculously, the ingredients do match in a fresh way. This film is a buddy movie, a comedy, a drama, a Holocaust movie, a family dynamic movie, an odd-couple film, a look at identity issues (especially Jewish identity in the light of WWII and the aftermath), as well as a travelogue through some glorious countryside. Yes, all those elements are here, and due to Eisenberg’s steady hand, nothing spins out of control. This film is stuffed with different people, differing issues, and more issues than most big-budget extravaganzas ever choose to address, yet the film is light and airy and (generally) easy to watch.

What is occasionally difficult to watch is Kieran Culkin’s performance, which is a work of art and will likely win him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Benji, his character, can be charming and flirty and engaging, but he can also be crude, rude, and cutting, often within seconds of those varying expressions. That’s the hard-to-watch part. You know that friend or relative that you love dearly, but often have to hold your breath around and occasionally apologize for their behavior? He’s that guy. In the hands of someone else, it could easily have been an uncontrolled parade of emotions and actions. But despite the incredible range of humor, embarrassing outbursts, and displays of selfishness that oftentimes greatly inconvenience others, Culkin roots everything deep into a humanity that never moves into thespian showmanship. Culkin and director Eisenberg give us one character here—complicated and often impossible to understand, but real.

Eisenberg takes on the quieter, more stable role that Culkin’s character is playing against, and he is excellent in the less showy role. As director, writer, end actor, Eisenberg holds down this mélange of personalities, actions, issues, and tone shifts with grace and a steady but not visibly controlling hand.

The Eisenberg/Culkin relationship is just the central personal one in a film nearly overflowing with comparing/contrasting issues. We have the horror of the Holocaust pitted against a group of tourists enjoying great food and comfortable accommodations while working to properly “remember” all that happened. The personality contrasts of the two central characters also bring up issues of “settling,” especially as it pertains to whatever one thinks the American Dream is. The question of what it means to be Jewish, too, is always playing underneath the action. Coincidentally, one of the travelers is Jennifer Grey, who famously had a nose job to look “less Jewish” after her triumph in Dirty Dancing, and hence lost her unique beauty. She has come to see that decision as the thing she most regrets doing, and she reclaims her Jewish identity in some respects with this performance. Note: I may have missed it, but I was looking to see when the film’s events take place. It seems like the present, but Grey doesn’t look old enough to have had a grandmother in the Holocaust. Just a thought…

Articles on films often spend an inordinate amount of time describing the plot. Not happening here. Knowing that we have two different cousins coming together to visit their ancestral home that happens to be the site of a concentration camp is enough to get one started. The unexpected ups and downs of the film are what makes it so enjoyable; a great group exercise among people who have seen the film would be to ask, “What is this film about?”

There might be as many answers to that questions as there are people in on the discussion. That’s what makes the film so interesting. What makes it great, however, is the writer/director’s ability to juggle plot points, performances, and deep historical issues into one enjoyable expression. Kudos to Culkin for establishing his reputation aside from famous brother Macauley (though his Emmy-winning work on HBO’s “Succession” strongly began that process), and to Eisenberg for resisting the showier role and for bringing order and delight to elements that might easily have spun out of all control in another director’s hands.

This film isn’t like anything else now, which may make it difficult for some to describe to others. It’s not reducible to anything simple. That’s its charm, and its triumph.