Jewish American cousins David and Benji (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) visit Poland to trace their grandmother’s roots in this buddy comedy/drama.

Written and directed by Eisenberg, the semi-autobiographical road movie comes across as he does: warm, witty and slightly unsure of itself. Having to balance intergenerational trauma and interpersonal relationships prevents it from getting particularly deep into either idea, but A Real Pain succeeds on the fraught dynamic between its leads; their relationship not only to each other, but to pain itself. Eisenberg channels Woody Allen as the nebbish David and Culkin shines as extroverted stoner Benji, making them a Jewish version of Woody and Buzz.

The other characters on the Jewish history tour are more stereotyped, allowing for convenient yet considered discussion of secularisation and survivor’s guilt. While culturally specific in setup, the gentle comedy plays for genealogists and gentiles alike; the awkward camaraderie among the group will be painfully familiar to anyone who has suffered a walking tour. The British tour guide (The White Lotus‘ Will Sharpe) is also well observed, his detached style prompting the most interesting discourse about how we (fail to) experience the places we visit as tourists.

Other scenes are more of a schlep, especially a group dinner whose clunky exposition feels unconvincing. And Eisenberg doesn’t really know how to approach the group’s visit to a concentration camp; not wanting to get too serious or make light of it, the sequence has no real impact either way. But the light introspection and Chopin soundtrack (performed by Israeli-Canadian pianist Tzvi Erez) makes for an inviting, inoffensive and inessential film about unpacking family baggage.