“The Drama” is not a romantic comedy.
It’s important to know that going in, because after all the previews and trailers and late-night show appearances and stand-up lobby posters with stars Robert Pattinson and Zendaya acting like a happy couple on their wedding day, you might think this film — however named — is going to be a romantic (dark) comedy. It’s important to know what it fundamentally is not before diving into what it actually winds up being, which, unfortunately, is a bit of a mess.
Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, “The Drama” opens with a mild meet-cute between Charlie (Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya) — he approaches her in a coffee shop and lies about having read the book she’s reading, she can’t hear his initial advances because she’s listening to music through one AirPod, and, she shares, is deaf in her other ear. “Should we start again?” she asks, as he fumbles his way through. It’s a recurring pivot throughout the movie: when we don’t like how something is going, how possible is it to just stop and give it another try? Can we forget what came before? Should we?
The bulk of the plot hinges on a reveal made during a final dinner tasting for their wedding reception among the now affianced Charlie and Emma, best man Mike (Mamoudou Athie, a welcome presence), and matron of honor Rachel (Alana Haim in a performance and character I found impossibly irritating). The four parties, fully drunk and feeling the highs of a great meal and bright future, decide to disclose the worst thing each of them has done. I won’t spoil who shares what, only that three of the secrets involve actions taken, with the fourth — Emma’s — forever just a stalled plan, however shocking it might be. You can guess which one the movie revolves around.
The fallout is immediate, with Rachel hysterically yelling accusations, Mike mostly trying to broker peace, and Emma vomiting onto the table. From this point on, it’s mostly Charlie’s story, exploring (or not) how he handles (or doesn’t) Emma’s past as it relates to their future together. Pattinson is very good at playing characters on the edge of a nervous breakdown or in the throes of anxiety (see “The Lighthouse,” “High Life,” and “Good Time”). That he has the floppy-haired sweatiness of early-career Hugh Grant is not accidental, given how this film wants to be perceived. I just wish it had the conviction to fully interrogate why everyone is so upset.
“The Drama” — for all its lived-in architecture and regular-people clothes — feels as though it has never met a real live human. Why doesn’t this shocking moment send everyone immediately into therapy? Why isn’t anyone concerned with how miserable Emma is at her reception? Who would let Rachel give a toast at this point? (And, who is doing a final tasting or visiting the florist days before their wedding?!) There are no good answers, only underwritten escalations and transgressions. The film wants us to steep in the shock of the reveal through flashbacks and other bits of visual play, but, to its ultimate failure, never makes the case as to why we should.
Together, Pattinson and Zendaya, two of our more interesting actors at the moment, give everything they possibly can to this blunt force trauma of a plot. That I want more for them than the movie does is an unfixable problem. They make a credible, beautiful couple with complicated histories struggling for a path forward. But even they can’t save what is ultimately an empty treatise on personal and performative outrage. “Should we start again?”
No, frankly, I’ve seen enough.
Johanna Lester is a pop culture critic who mainlines movies, TV and the best cookies Rochester has to offer. She’ll also hold that grudge on your behalf. Follow her @theauntjojo.
