Jesse Eisenberg to write, direct and star alongside Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg will write and direct 'A Real Pain' and star in the film alongside Kieran Culkin.

The 'Zombieland' star is poised to head to Poland in March 2023 to shoot the film about "two estranged cousins who travel to Poland after their grandmother dies to see where she came from and end up joining a Holocaust tour."

They will be played by Eisenberg, 38, and 'Succession' star Kieran, 39.

Eisenberg is once again teaming up with Dave McCary, Emma Stone and Ali Herting’s production firm Fruit Tree on the movie, after his directional debut 'When You Finish Saving The World' was released under the banner.

The 'Now You See Me' star says the movie asks if "modern pain is valid against the backdrop of real historical trauma."

In an interview with ScreenDaily.com, Eisenberg said of the two characters: “They have a funny, fraught relationship; it’s a bittersweet story, as we realise maybe we don’t fully belong together, but against the backdrop of this incredibly dramatic history.

“I’m trying to ask the question is modern pain valid against the backdrop of real historical trauma? I think I’m speaking to the experience of people [in their 30s] who go back and it’s foreign to them – and now suddenly real.”

Eisenberg is hoping to work with as many team members from the crew of his first film as he can, along with locals.

He added: “Luckily I’m shooting in a country that has an amazing film tradition.”

The 'Social Network' star previously opened up about coming from a "secular suburban Jewish household" himself, while his ancestors were Polish.

He said: "I grew up in a secular suburban Jewish household where we only observed the religion on very specific times like a funeral or a Bar Mitzvah."