The Drama review: When ‘I do’ becomes ‘I don’t know’
‘The Drama’ turns a would-be rom-com upside down when a series of confessions threaten to derail a couple’s upcoming wedding.
It’s nearly impossible to know everything about anyone. But most people hope they know their romantic partners as well as possible. Therefore, when they reveal something significant years into a long-term relationship, it can be upsetting. Is keeping a secret from one’s past a simple omission or is it a betrayal of an unspoken promise to share everything? Individual circumstances are a factor, but it’s a question everyone hopes they never have to answer. In The Drama, an unexpected admission tests a young couple’s relationship the week of their nuptials.
Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) are in the final stages of their wedding planning. They invite their friends, Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), to help them finalize the menu, which includes wine pairings. Several bottles in, they decide to play a game that creates trust and intimacy. But it also has a strong risk of offending someone. Nonetheless, they each take a turn answering the question: “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” However, Emma’s drunken confession throws everyone for a loop. The revelation consumes Charlie as he can’t sort out his feelings about it. As the big day marches closer, their impending vows become less certain.
The film opens like a typical rom-com. Emma and Charlie have a meet-cute story. She’s fun and unconventional, while he’s strait-laced and conservative. They each show these traits when they react to an unusually strict dance instructor. But they balance each other out, once again showing opposites attract. And then everything changes.
Alcohol lowers people’s inhibitions, poking holes in the filters we usually have in place. Consequently, people reveal things they may never have if they weren’t drunk. Rachel’s and Mike’s admissions are pretty bad, resulting in some judgement from the dinner party. Emma’s revelation immediately draws disbelief, accusations and indignation. The uneasiness only intensifies from there.
There’s this somewhat unrealistic idea that you should know everything about a person before committing to spend your life with them. Of course, there’s the basics that hold true, such as understanding your partner is functionally human, seeing how they behave in intense situations and meeting the people important to them. But is there a statute of limitations on skeletons in the closet? Would you stop loving someone based on something they did more than a decade before you ever met? The film raises these questions and there are no easy answers.
The narrative choice to address a divisive topic inevitably makes audiences uncomfortable. People are likely to feel differently about Emma and how Charlie should handle the situation. The pressure to resolve their feelings before the wedding only amplifies the problem. Over the course of the film, it covers a spectrum of responses, some of which are funny and not all of which are productive. Charlie and others ask a lot of questions, but Emma has grown so much as a person it’s like being forced to defend a stranger. In addition, what Emma says is irrelevant if they can’t get past the core issue.
Zendaya and Pattinson play their respective roles perfectly. She’s not overly emotional and behaves as someone who genuinely wishes she could turn back time. Audiences should be able to empathize with Emma, even if they can’t forgive her. Meanwhile, viewers learn early on that Charlie fixates on negative things and this is no different. Pattinson oozes stress and confusion. His internal struggle to reconcile this new knowledge with the woman he loves deftly colours his whole performance.
Further contributing to the film’s authenticity are the nonlinear scenes. They often cut two scenes together, reflecting the erratic trains of thought Emma and Charlie are experiencing. It even occasionally splices in their respective worst nightmares as if they’re actually happening to convey the power of their fears.
Zendaya and Pattinson have an uncanny ability to have even better chemistry in distress. They’re wholly believable as the happy couple, but they really thrive portraying the characters’ complex emotions. Their fraught relationship engrosses audiences, for better or worse, until the lights come up.
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Starring: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Alana Haim
