The Unexpected Drama in THE DRAMA

In the days leading up to their wedding, a couple’s relationship is rocked when a horrifying revelation causes a massive shockwave that could derail the entire affair. Starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, The Drama certainly has plenty of that to entertain and mortify audiences. And while the film definitely pushes boundaries, it’s a message we should perhaps not overlook as sensationalism.

This review will be spoiler-free for the majority. A spoiler warning will be displayed in advance of my discussion of the “revelation”.

Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson) are in the final planning stages of their wedding, making last-minute decisions and stressing over writing their vows. In general, they seem ridiculously perfect. Two people so honest and comfortable with one another, they’re disgustingly cute.

For their food tasting, they’ve invited Charlie’s best man, Mike (Mamoudou Athie), and his wife/maid-of-honor, Rachel (Alana Haim), who bring up a game they recently played where they revealed the worst thing they’ve ever done. Each reveals a questionable thing, but when it gets to Charlie and Emma’s turn, an enormous admission comes out of one of them that begins chipping away at the idealistic partnership these two had.

The Drama is a delightfully deranged collision of bad decisions. It feels chaotic, sending you on a rollercoaster of emotions and judgments for all parties involved. There’s a lot to marinate on as it sort of delves into two things.

This question of unconditional love, and can you truly love someone as their current self if you learn that they weren’t always this way? And also darker themes of morality, holding a mirror to society, especially in the United States. I’ll explore this in more detail later in the spoiler section, but for now, I’ll keep it vague.

Planning a wedding can be stressful enough without a massive shock being thrown in, and between Emma and Charlie, we see how that picture-perfect facade can quickly peel away. And through that, again, the nuances of unconditional love and what it means to accept someone for their worst. But also, where’s that line?

While you’re left reeling in the aftermath with these characters, the performances are what shine. Zendaya and Pattinson are delivering two incredibly dynamic performances. They have fantastic chemistry, bringing lots of heart to Emma and Charlie in their own respects. But also on their own, both actors are weaving through extreme highs and lows in their characters’ experiences and how they’re handling everything. Where one is sort of crashing out while trying to keep things together, with the other very embarrassed, confused, and lost with what to do.

To support that, I love how the editing and camera work add to the erratic nature. Utilizing quick cuts and dynamic shots to show how the relationship should be, juxtaposed with reality. And as these two sit in those uncomfortable moments, you’re sort of left on this whirlwind of indecision with them.

Although I will say my biggest issue with the film is that it struggles at times with its pacing and progressing the story enough. It keeps you on this ride for a bit longer than it needed to before getting to the precipice of the third act conflict.

The Drama will definitely be polarizing. It is a super darkly funny comedy drama, not a rom-com as some suspect. I know the revelation is floating on the internet, but it’s best to go in as blindly as possible, so you can go on the journey of your own thoughts and feelings towards this couple, all while you marinate in the cringiest of moments.

But if you want to know my thoughts on the “twist”, keep reading.

Spoiler warning! Discussion of the revelation, but no spoilers of the ending of the film.

During the semi-innocent game that the two couples play, Emma, in a drunken state, admits to having planned a school shooting when she was a teenager, but never actually followed through with it.

This aspect of the story was not present in the marketing, so it’s a bit of a shock for the audience to hear it as well. And I think that’s the point. We’re supposed to feel the same level of confusion and disgust as her friends and fiancé. Throughout the film, Charlie attempts to make sense of why Emma would have contemplated this, looking for some sort of deep-rooted trauma that could excuse such a wildly inappropriate response. And with that, we go on our own journey of trying to weigh if she’s forgivable, just as Charlie is doing the same.

It’s a twist in the film’s plot that really does flip the entire thing on its head. And I could certainly understand that instant gut reaction to reject the film. But it’s in that uncomfortableness that we should try to understand the point. It’s not meant to glorify the act by any means, but when we think of how our society has become so desensitized to that violence, and how the film showcases how Emma was so cavalier about that being her path, it is a horrifying reality of what plagues our country. And especially with the film being written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, it’s clear how outsiders view the epidemic we refuse to fix.

It’s a thought-provoking piece in many ways. Whether it handles the material with sensitivity or not is up to each individual to judge.