Director/writer Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama is a spectacle in search of a genre. A happy, engaged couple in New York, Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya), are in the controlled chaos of wedding planning. We groove along as they choose a DJ, pick out a cake, and work through the thousand natural shocks that betrothed people are heir to. This joyous, light-hearted introduction is intercut with flashbacks. We see their meet-cute where Charlie pretends he’s reading the same book to strike up a conversation, and scenes of them falling for each other. They take dance lessons for the wedding. He is nervously British and charming. She’s confident, gorgeous, and congenial. So far, this is the well-worn onramp to a sappy rom-com, and we settle into our seats to learn what possible conflict could justify another hour of runtime.
Here is where the turd splashes loudly into the punch bowl. In an impromptu drunken session with their friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), a dare is thrown out for everyone to reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done. Emma’s admission of something she considered doing as a teenager causes a record-scratch moment. They are all horrified, and now they see her differently. Commence drawn-out cringe.
There are two incidents revealed where people are tempted, but then turn aside from committing a heinous act, and then someone else admits to going through with an evil act. Borgli condemns the intent, while the actual act is laughed off as a youthful lapse in judgment. That contradiction is illogical and immoral. Further, there is no remorse for what was done, and no attempt to make amends. There’s also the issue of knowing what stopped Emma. Her sudden change of heart is “deus ex machina.” There’s no connecting tissue between a disturbed teen and a lovable, healthy young woman.
“… a dare is thrown out for everyone to reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done …”
The Drama starts like Sleepless in Seattle, but then goes down a dark hole into We Need to Talk About Kevin territory. This movie subverts expectations at every turn. Is it a rom-com or a black comedy? Despite being tonally confusing, it will roll around in your mind for the next few days (maybe even causing you to stay up too late writing a review). It’s hard to know if it landed where it was meant to, because it’s not clear where that is. It’s too dark to be funny, but it has too much (attempted) whimsical humor to be serious. I question the judgment of a writer who thinks it’s acceptable to joke about certain topics. While we’re nitpicking, let’s consider the lazy title. Every film is a drama.
Despite the flaws in the script, Pattinson and Zendaya deliver their roles beautifully. Their performances shine in the face of a hopeless morass of WTF. These two generational talents make the film worth seeing. Alana Haim gives us a worthy villain in Rachel. Mamoudou Athie’s character Mike is the sane anchor of normality, a genuinely good man in a clown car full of troubled people.
Should those closest to us be entitled to know the worst thing we’ve ever almost done? Are we defined by our intentions or our actions? If The Drama means to shock us into laughing at trauma, it falls short. Perhaps Borgli was trying for catharsis like Weapons. In that film, Zach Cregger uses the image of an assault rifle as a metaphor. Borgli attempts a similar trick here but fails to hit the target. A24 deserves credit for taking risks on edgy, challenging films, but they aren’t all going to be winners.
"…If it means to shock us into laughing at trauma, it falls short"
