A Real Pain ending explained: What happened between Benji and David?

Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain managed to win hearts and accolades this award season after a highly successful debut at the Sundance Festival 2024. The film, which revolved around cousins David Kaplan and Benji Kaplan as they navigate through the loss of their grandmother in Poland and embark on a journey that altered their momentarily lives, managed to gain praise from the audience for its witty, funny, and heartfelt portrayal.

Written by Eisenberg himself, the film has since its release has been a topic of discussion, more particularly for its ending was left open to the audience's interpretations and opened quite many conversations among fans regarding Benji and David's fate.

What is the plot of A Real Pain?

The plot of A Real Pain revolves around Benji and David as they get together to travel to Poland to visit their grandmother's childhood home. The film subtly navigates through themes of the Holocaust and its tragedy as the duo explores Poland on a Nazi-German Holocaust tour. The intricate details of their mismatched personalities- David and his practical and poised nature teamed up with Benji's free-spirited soul add more layers to the story.

Later in the plot, the cousins sit down to talk about how they drifted apart growing up. More serious conversations follow as they talk about Benji's suicide attempt and how it deeply affected David, leading him to distance himself from Benji. Towards the end of the film, David invites Benji over for dinner at his place and offers to give him a ride home, an invitation he rejects which leads to a physical dispute, only for both of them to reconcile as they confess their deep affection for one another.

Speaking of the film, Eisenberg told Total Film,

“This is a story about how people change and evolve and the way history changes and evolves… It’s the same thing with personal relationships, at some point that thing you want from the other person is not gonna be the thing they’re giving you, and this is kind of what this movie is about. They’re going to love each other for ever, but they’re probably not going to be as close as they have been. That’s the feeling of the movie."

The film ends on an ambiguous note, leaving it to viewers to interpret. Here's a breakdown of the ending and what fate awaits the protagonists after the plot.

What does the ending of A Real Pain mean?

The ending led to much speculation on fans' part as discussions ensued on social media on what happened to the cousins after they left Poland. Eisenberg himself describes the ending, saying,

“It’s a bittersweet ending and I guess it’s my take on life, which is, there’s a kind of bittersweetness of things. But I think we would have made a lot more money if he [Benji] went home for dinner with me. I was told by a big Hollywood director ‘if you want to make a billion dollars, have him go home at the end’. I was like ‘Yeah, I don’t think I wanna make that movie’.”

The ending scene of the film shows Benji hanging around the airport as he observes all the other passengers, the scene being a full circle moment to the first shot of the film when we see Benji waiting at the airport hours before their departure to Poland.

Many fans have pointed out that the scene might mean that he is homeless and hence refuses David's offer to ride him home. Another explanation could be that he takes a moment to stand there and look around, watching all the other people as they bustle through their lives while he looks forward to the next adventure he goes on. (Classic Benji).

Nonetheless, the ending is bittersweet, as Eisenberg notes it and its ambiguity gives the audience a chance to end the story on their own note. It's a heartfelt watch and most certainly thought-provoking as we stay with Benji at the airport, looking through the emptiness in the crowded airport, staring into oblivion.

A Real Pain is available to stream on Prime Video