Courtesy of A24
“What if you just found out the most troubling secret about your partner on your way to walking down the aisle with them?”
One of the most talked about films of this year, The Drama is a film that revolves around the chaotic journey of Charlie and Emma, a couple who is getting married, while all of a sudden, Emma drops the bomb on him and their friends, that she once thought of doing a mass shooting back in high school. Directed and written by Kristoffer Borgli, this film successfully invited a lot of conversations across the globe and generations about the big question of “Should you know everything about your partner before you get married to them?”
Things to avoid before getting married: Tell your partner your deepest, darkest, secret.
The premise itself is already such a compelling and intriguing starting point to get me excited watching the film. Then, you attach Zendaya and Robert Pattinson in it. That is an instant lock in. To bring such a simple yet conflicting human story like this, both Zendaya and Pattinson managed to step into their roles exceptionally well. Zendaya, playing a character that is always conflicted with her own feelings, thoughts, and her dark actions back in school makes her kept questioning her own sanity. While on the other hand, being understandably confused and torn apart as he is (and should be), Robert Pattinson nailed his role beautifully as well. The supporting cast are also great, they managed to bring such varied and unique roles to the screen, adding the heat to the story and the journey of this couple.
Directing wise, I think it was great. For a story so uncomfortable, this film manages to show and more importantly give you that uneasy feeling. Between the scoring intensively using flutes, to the jumping cuts back and forth from one timeline to another, it was easy for you as an audience to feel the high tense and edgy throughout watching the entire film. Thanks to this film also, I realized that flutes actually can give you such a feeling that something is just off.
The wedding scene, being the third act of this film, is highly entertaining to watch in such a unsettling way. Just when you thought that something bad is gonna happen, it was worse. From awkward speeches and toasts, secrets unfolding in the most disturbing way, to massive swings on the face. All happened in this glorious wedding. All this was because she said that she didn’t do something bad back in high school. “Only thought about it”. Well, well, well.
Overall, I enjoyed this film very much. This is a very well performed, directed, written, and made film. Explored such a complex question that will never have a singular answer. Is it really fair to judge people based on their thoughts and actions when they were in school? Can they really change? Would you ask your partner to tell you about their entire life history before marrying them? And even once you know everything, can you forgive them? Each of us will have our own opinions on that and that is what makes films with stories like this are very interesting.
