A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
Pam says:
“The Drama” is one of the most uniquely intense films in recent memory built almost entirely on emotional excavation of its small ensemble cast. The story centers on one couple, Emma, played by Zendaya, and Charlie, played by Robert Pattinson, who are just one week away from their wedding. What begins as a fun evening testing out a tasting menu with their closest friends quickly curdles into something far more unsettling.
Joined by Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), the group indulges in a bit too much wine and the conversation takes a decided turn as they post the question, “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” Gears shift, speech halts as each confession is shared, but nothing prepares the group (or the viewer) for Emma’s revelation. It’s a moment that detonates the film’s emotional core, fundamentally altering how every character perceives Emma. From that point forward, the tensions rise as we watch the wedding date approach perhaps all too quickly.
The film operates as a psychological piece, interrogating identity, morality, and the unsettling possibility that we may never fully know the people closest to us. The narrative structure is particularly effective as it blends linear progression with precisely deployed flashbacks that deepen our understanding of Emma’s past and Charlie’s possible future and his perceived possible past accentuating his gnawing fears. These temporal shifts are not stylistic flourishes, they are essential to better understanding both main characters.
Performance-wise, the film is airtight. Even if you’re not typically drawn to Zendaya or Pattinson, both deliver deeply evocative, intrinsic, layered work that feels compellingly authentic. Pattinson, in particular, captures the quiet implosion of a man grappling with a reality he can’t reconcile. Zendaya walks a razor’s edge, revealing just enough to keep us both engaged and unsettled. However, the standout may very well be Haim—her performance is so naturalistic it borders on documentary-level realism. There’s no visible artifice; she simply is.
The ensemble as a whole functions with remarkable cohesion, creating the sense that we are witnessing real people navigating an impossible situation in real time. And that is what makes the film so effective and so uncomfortable.
Be advised: the subject matter is disturbing and, at times, emotionally taxing. But it’s also precisely the kind of film that lingers, prompting difficult conversations that are necessary in today’s world.
In the end, “The Drama” doesn’t just ask whether love can endure the truth, it forces you to confront whether it should.
Chuck says:
A cautionary tale for today, Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama” is a movie that thrives on making its characters and the viewer uncomfortable. Handling hot button topics with a commendable deft touch, the film puts Social Media Era relationships under the microscope, as well as our ever-shifting perspectives of one another. As if that weren’t enough, it also examines the notions of forgiveness and redemption, looking at the how individuals mete them out, often based on their own experiences in receiving or having been denied them.
Charlie and Emma (Robert Pattinson and Zendaya) have the world on a string. Both have good jobs, enabling them to live in a tony apartment in New York City and they are head over heels in love. They are a week away from getting married, taking dance lessons, tasting cakes and putting other last-minute touches on their big day.
However, things suddenly go off the rails when they meet their married friends, Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim) for dinner. All having had a bit too much wine, it’s suggested they play a game in which each reveals the worst thing they’ve done. They all agree and while each confession is revealing, what Emma admits to sets the other three back on their heels. Rachel attacks her, Mike tries to be understanding and find some middle ground, and poor Charlie begins to wonder if he wants to go through with the marriage.
Without question, Emma’s confession is a shocker but not one so outlandish it would be unbelievable. Through long, agonizing conversations between her and Charlie, we and he come to find out things about her childhood and teen years that are all too common but not discussed nearly enough. Borgli walks a fine line throughout, neither condoning nor condemning what Emma contemplated. The fact that she only planned to do something but never went through with it brilliantly muddies the waters, our and Charlie’s judgement of her on shaky ground because of it.
Borgli’s smart script also puts Charlie and Rachel in the crosshairs, their subsequent behavior towards Emma becoming questionable as well. Is the later justified in her fury even though the act wasn’t committed? And when Charlie suffers a mental health crisis and commits an inappropriate act, is he worthy of forgiveness? Does he recognize that the understanding he’s seeking regarding his behavior should apply to Emma’s past (in)actions?
Not only do these acts irreparably affect Charlie and Emma’s relationship, but it changes the way in which they view and treat others. When they begin to suspect the DJ they’ve hired of questionable behavior, which has not been irrefutably confirmed, their judgement towards her is extreme, unwarranted and hypocritical.
Challenging films such as this are all too rare and it’s exhilarating watching it unfold. There are surprises aplenty and while the third act approaches the edge of coming outlandishness, the solid work by the cast keeps it grounded. Zendaya, who’s always struck me as being too stoic for her own good, shows range I didn’t realize she possessed. She is truly remarkable in bringing to life the variety of emotions Emma goes through. Pattinson is just as good, the actor more than up to the task of portraying the unraveling of Charlie with power and poignancy. The actor shows a vulnerability here I hope he revisits in future projects.
Sure to prompt many a post-screening discussion, “The Drama” poses a great many questions regarding human nature and provides no easy answers. Is it better to operate under the notion that whatever I don’t know won’t hurt me in regards to my romantic partner and friends? How harshly should we judge someone’s actions as a teenager? Who is worthy of forgiveness and a chance at redemption?
While the obvious lesson of the film is to never play the confessional game that causes all the trouble, the more important theme is that of understanding. On multiple occasions Emma asks for a do-over, sometimes over trifles, at others for more serious actions. By being given a second chance, she is aware of the importance and power of offering it to others. Only by recognizing our own faults and those of others can we ever hope to understand one another. In the end, having blossomed after offered a chance at redemption, Emma displays a sense a grace the others lack. Charlie reaches a point where he’s in need of this gift. Had he not gone through the trial he had, he’d be unable to recognize its value.
4 Stars
