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Minor spoilers for The Drama Ahead
The Drama is a new A24 film starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, directed by Kristoffer Borgoli. It was released on April 3rd, and follows our couple, Emma Harwood and Charlie Thompson, as they prepare for their wedding. On one drunken night with friends, they decide to reveal the worst things they’ve ever done. Once Emma reveals hers, things between the couple are forever changed.
The Drama is a film that has generated a lot of mystique leading up to its release, mostly centred around Emma’s confession.
The film starts normally enough, with a meet-cute between Emma & Charlie at a coffee shop. Charlie attempts to hit on Emma, not realizing she’s deaf in one ear. It turns into a cute story that Charlie plans to tell in his vows. If someone wasn’t familiar with A24 films, they might think The Drama was your typical rom-com. Zendaya and Pattinson have enough chemistry to be believable as a couple, while it wasn’t anything especially electrifying, I still found many of their scenes sweet and enjoyed their back and forth.
When Emma makes her confession, it's beyond shocking, and it's at this point in the film that things take a turn. This single confession sets off a chain reaction that essentially blows up their relationship and friendships, leaving Charlie to question how well he really knows his fiancée. It ends up sending him down a self-destructive spiral.
There are multiple ways someone could take Emma’s confession. What I found interesting was that Charlie initially brushes it off as Emma being young and doesn’t take the confession too seriously. His friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), on the other hand, don’t agree. It’s only then that Charlie starts to let this confession change his view of Emma and everything he knew about her. Throughout the film, it becomes clear that Charlie cares a lot about how others perceive him and his relationship. The Drama is less about Emma’s confession as a whole, and more about Charlie’s inner conflict between his love for Emma and what is perceived as “The right thing.”
While Emma’s confession is disturbing, the film does offer some context through flashbacks to her past. There is a nuance to her situation, which I think is acknowledged by Charlie, but once again, his friends' influence and his fear of judgment from others overwhelm him. By the end of the film, I think Charlie comes to a realization, although he chooses an unfortunate time to do so.
Emma isn’t the only one who reveals the worst thing she has ever done; Charlie, Mike, and Rachel all do as well. While mostly overshadowed by Emma’s confession, theirs aren’t exactly light-hearted. In fact, some might say downright cruel, especially Rachel, who felt the most strongly about Emma’s confession. This highlighted her hypocrisy to me, as she didn’t find her confession to be a big deal, considering she was young, yet that same line of thinking wasn’t applied to Emma.
I also think it’s important to acknowledge that who Emma is has some bearing on how the audience may react to her confession. I can admit certain biases I may possess, and had Emma been a man, I don’t know if I would offer as much understanding towards her situation. This is even slightly touched upon in the film.
The Drama tests the boundaries of unconditional love. The film leaves you questioning how much you’re willing to overlook for the love of your life, while also surprisingly digging into the radicalization of American youth.
I have to say, the title of this film sums it up pretty well, because just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, I was proven wrong each time.
The Drama is currently playing in theatres.
