Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama is the anti-rom-com we didn’t know we needed—or maybe the one we secretly dread. Following his breakout surrealist hit Dream Scenario, the Norwegian director returns with another A24-produced film. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star as Emma and Charlie, a seemingly perfect engaged couple whose wedding week in Boston spirals into chaos after one drunken late-night confession. What follows isn’t your standard “will-they-won’t-they” fluff; it’s a black-comedy autopsy of modern relationships, moral hypocrisy, and the terrifying gap between who we pretend to be and who we actually are.
Borgli’s script is a high-wire act of cringe comedy and genuine unease. He borrows the nervous energy of Josh Safdie’s Mary Supreme and the family-revelation gut-punches of Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, then dials the taboo dial up to eleven. The film delights in smashing rom-com clichés—meet-cutes, bridal showers, Instagram-perfect photo sessions—against raw, unflinching reality. One sequence involving a desperate wedding photographer trying to coax smiles out of a visibly unraveling couple is laugh-out-loud mortifying in the best way. The humor is mean, precise, and earned; it never punches down for cheap shocks but instead forces you to confront how quickly “unconditional love” can curdle into judgment, denial, or self-preservation.
At the center are two career-best turns. Zendaya plays Emma, and she does an incredible job. She shows a mix of vulnerability, rebellion, and innocence, making Emma seem real yet complex. Her tiny facial expressions and body language are subtle but powerful, especially when she drops the act. Robert Pattinson plays Charlie with his usual intense, slightly messy style. His character, a history-loving artist, starts to doubt himself, and his inner struggle shows through. The chemistry between Zendaya and Pattinson is strong—you can really believe they were once madly in love, which makes watching their relationship fall apart even more emotional and darkly funny. Supporting actors like Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie, who play their worried friends, add extra depth, making group scenes tense and full of sharp dialogue.
Where The Drama divides (and it will) is in how far it’s willing to go. Some will call it smug or juvenile for teasing heavy themes—race, gender, violence, forgiveness—without delivering tidy sociological lectures. Others (myself included) will applaud its nerve for refusing to hand-hold. The film trusts the audience to sit in the mess and debate it afterward: Is honesty always the best policy? Can love survive the ugliest truths? And why do we demand perfection from the people we claim to adore most?
The Drama is a gloriously uncomfortable jolt. It’s not for date-night enthusiasts or anyone allergic to moral gray areas, but if you’re in the mood for a movie that will make you squirm, laugh nervously, and text your group chat “we need to talk about this” on the drive home, book your tickets. Zendaya and Pattinson don’t just sell the fantasy—they gleefully dismantle it. Just don’t propose right after seeing it.
Screening at Luna Leederville and Luna on SX from April 2.
Luna Outdoor, Saturday, April 4 and Monday, April 6. Doors open 6.00pm | Session starts 7.00pm
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
- Socials: @frazer.live
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