By Addison Gernenz | Intern
A24’s recent release “The Drama” is an intersection of romantic dark comedy and psychological thriller. What begins as a light, cute, character-driven romance becomes a weightier study of identity, love and forgiveness.
The film opens in a coffee shop. Charlie, played by Robert Pattinson, spots Emma, who is played by Zendaya, sitting alone and reading a book titled “The Damage.”
When Zendaya’s character stands up to get more coffee, he hurries to take a picture of the book and scroll through Goodreads, intending to pretend to have read it and create a pickup line based on its contents.
In this awkward attempt to start a conversation, Emma doesn’t hear him. She’s deaf in one ear and listening to music in the other. However, when she sees him, she sweetly asks, “Do you want to start over?”
So Emma’s character is introduced as someone who believes in people, is kind and gracious and sees the importance of second chances. I think this character holds up throughout the movie. Until the final scene.
She appears to undergo a major character shift, but I believe a closer look shows she doesn’t. She knows loneliness. She has firsthand experience with the darkness that accompanies it. And so, Emma lives her life in a way that prevents other people from experiencing that pain.
This is further translated into how she approaches conflict or disagreement throughout the movie: she is avoidant and wants to just move forward. Charlie, on the other hand, wants to tread through the conflict and reach an understanding.
This is my one complaint about the move. I think Emma and Charlie’s relationship should have been clearer from the beginning.
The conflict, or “twist,” is revealed about 20 minutes into the film and is less a twist than the film’s central premise.
During a spontaneous game of “What’s the Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done,” Emma, now engaged to Charlie, lets a secret slip which leaves him shocked, second-guessing everything he knows about his empathetic and kind bride-to-be, just days before the wedding.
“The Drama” uses extreme close-up framing and pulsing heartbeat sounds to heighten the anxiety and stress of the characters. Background music — or the lack thereof — creates an unsettling environment as Charlie attempts to process this new information about his fiancee.
The revelations add to an erosion of character and alteration of reality. I think this was executed really well. There are moments when the narrator feels untrustworthy or unreliable, which draws the viewer into the cloudy reality Emma and Charlie have found themselves in.
Sharp scene cuts mid-emotion and zooms show the emotional turmoil both Emma and Charlie experience after the release of this secret.
This anxiety the film creates in you is contrasted with the couple making their final touches to wedding plans: meetings with the photographer, finalizing the flower order and last-minute DJ issues.
I’ve seen critics argue about whether the film’s premise is too much, too provocative. I’ve seen Instagram comments claiming the movie was confusing or brutal.
I disagree. The movie hands you hard-to-digest subject matter and does not tell you how to deal with it. This can feel confusing or provocative.
Ultimately, I think the directors executed the film very well. It’s not about the twist, it’s not about the wedding, even. The film is about a moral dilemma and how guilt is assigned. It’s about how you see people and their ability to change.
This film provokes conversation and encourages discourse. It’s not a light chick flick or a sob story about a couple. This is a film that will leave you pondering after you leave the theater.
It will cause you to wrestle with what you think is the truth and with questions you likely have never handled before.
The story is hard to swallow and has therefore created disagreement. Let it create conversation.
“The Drama” is unlike any other movie you will see — for better or for worse.
