The Drama review: You aren’t ready for this wild movie
If you’re expecting The Drama to be a fun, straightforward romcom about a couple preparing for their wedding, then you’re going to be stunned. This is an uncomfortable anti-romcom!
The pitch-black comedy-drama, written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, follows couple Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya) as they do their final preparations before getting married later that week. However, during a menu tasting session several days before with their best friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), they drunkenly participate in a game called “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” And Emma drops a bombshell that completely changes everything.
The first-act reveal – which I will not spoil for you because the surprise must be protected – is an insane jaw-dropper and one you never would have seen coming in a million years. Many people will hate this effed-up idea, some may even walk out, but there’s no question that this dark and shocking reveal is a provocative one that will spark many conversations.
Emma’s reveal blows up Charlie’s idea of who she is fundamentally as a person. The story focuses more on how the spineless coward Charlie deals with this dilemma, how he basically ties himself in knots and goes nuts trying to process and rationalise it. He tries to reconcile this new, dented image of his fiancée with his original, sparkly clean one, all with the added pressure of deciding whether he still wants to marry her later that week. It doesn’t help that other people know and have plenty to say about what he should do. The film asks questions like: What would be your deal-breaker with your romantic partner? Could you still love them in light of this game-changing information? Have they truly changed, or are they still that person somewhere inside?
Needless to say, The Drama is an incredibly uncomfortable watch, by design. It’s not perfect; in fact, there is some imagery that it could have done without, but the messiness works within the context of the story, and it is quite funny in places. Plus, it pays off brilliantly with the disastrous, chaotic wedding that will have you squirming in your seat. It contains the most unbearably awkward speeches that I have ever seen put on film. I audibly groaned, winced and had my hands against my face during them! The film doesn’t really know where to go after that though, and doesn’t fully stick the landing.
There are no weak performances; everybody is on their A-game. But because we’ve seen Pattinson in weird, out-there movies and playing these weedy jerks before, I was most impressed by Zendaya. The Drama is a bold, risky move, and I’m sure plenty of actresses wouldn’t go near it, so I respect her bravery. But she also gives a layered, nuanced and emotional performance. It’s like she tested the waters with Challengers and then fully dived in with The Drama. And hats off to Haim for playing such a scarily confrontational, outspoken person. I wouldn’t want to cross Rachel!
Having seen Borgli’s film Sick of Myself, I was expecting this to be offbeat, subversive and edgy, but I was still not prepared for the mind-blowing reveal. Go in knowing as little as possible; your experience will be better for it.
In cinemas Friday 3rd April