THE DRAMA Review

What's the worst thing you've ever done?

This is the key question asked in Kristoffer Borgil's The Drama that sets all of the remaining drama of the film in motion. The film follows engaged couple Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) preparing for their big wedding day. During a dinner with their close friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), a conversation about the worst things they've ever done leads to Emma revealing something from her teenage years that shocks everyone else at the table.

The film intentionally does not want the audience to know what the big reveal is before it happens just a few scenes into the movie. The reveal is skirted around in the trailer, making it seem more like some big twist than it truly is in the movie. This alone already sets a precedent for how the subject matter is being used. A very prevalent issue in today's world seems almost completely unexplored despite being a key basis for the film.

Where the movie does work, however, is in its exploration of how we react to learning new information, and how those reactions are shaped by other people, events, and society.

The film is most intriguing when we're focused on the arc of Charlie. At first, he's not sure if he even believes what he's hearing, just as shocked as the others at the table. He then wrestles through his complicated feelings, knowing deep down he still loves Emma but feeling the need to grasp at straws and exaggerate other events of her life to make sense of this new information. Most interesting, however, is how much he cares about what other people think. Not only does he take Rachel's strong reaction to heart, but he also tries to seek out a different opinion from Misha (Hailey Benton Gates), clearly wanting a different answer than the one he gets. That external validation from other people clearly drives so much of his internal struggle with processing this new information. Through all of this, Robert Pattinson gives one of the most compelling performances of the year so far with so much of what he's going through being internal, but still showing in his face and body language.

Alana Haim's Rachel is also fascinating to follow. She is the one who has the strongest negative reaction to the information revealed, in part due to having a personal tie to the severity of the topic at hand. This reaction, however, is not without hypocrisy baked into it. Rachel's "worst thing she's ever done" is actually the worst thing revealed that night, a tangible action that she was lucky didn't turn out worse than it did. Her inability to see that hypocrisy herself and to believe she's above Emma rings very true to how a lot of society treats certain events. While I wish there was a bit more of an arc there, Haim plays the stubbornness of this character to perfection, making her the standout of most of the scenes she's in.

Zendaya's Emma, however, is underwritten despite being the heart of the film. Her performance is just as compelling as she's struggling with how her revealing these dark thoughts from her past is affecting how the people around her view her. It's arguably her best work in a film thus far, as you feel the pain and regret and the longing for people to see her the same as they saw her before. She knows this information doesn't define her and who she is today, but she also knows that's not how most people will see it. The movie struggles to give her much beyond that, however, especially in terms of showing who she is beyond some dark thoughts she had many years ago. Her scenes with Pattinson, showing the relationship as it's going through its biggest hardship to date, are the most compelling, but something is left to be desired in just getting to develop her.

These great performances and exploration of how people react or overreact to things based on external and societal factors are what elevates this movie into one that is thought provoking and worth exploring. The movie also isn't without other strong elements. There are a lot of strong editing choices, especially in its incorporation of brief what if type moments that add to showcasing these characters wants and fears. The writing of moments between characters is often pretty strong, especially when looking at how different people interpret and respond to things.

All of that, however, still feels frustratingly limited by the use of the issues at hand. The marketing keeping the premise a secret feels like the wrong move, as it almost makes the reveal seem like it's going to be more than it is. It wants to use this issue without saying enough about it, and that's where the film falls short of being truly great.

The end result is a movie I overall enjoyed and found fascinating, but one that also left me wanting so much more.

🍿SCORE = 68 / 100