By Matthew Moorcroft

Strong Recommendation

• Directed by Kristoffer Borgli
• Starring Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie
• R

Ever hear somebody say something so shocking and unexpected you can just hear a pin drop and literally feel the air being sucked out of the room? That’s the entire impetus of The Drama, which finds the marriage between Emma and Charlie threatened just days before it’s supposed to happen. That revelation, which has been part of A24’s secretive marketing for the flick as a way to drum up hype for what is otherwise a difficult film to truly sell, is fully meant to divide not just the cast but also the audience itself, clearly wanting to provoke discussion afterwards between the viewers about what they would have done in this scenario or not.

It could simply be easy provocation, but thankfully The Drama, with it’s excellent surreal editing and dark sense of humor that’s laden all over the script, is less a lecture or boundary pusher then it is simply a thought exercise meant to analyze it’s lead characters. Charlie in particular, whose own personal convictions are tested and we see him slowly revert back to the person he was before meeting Emma. Emma herself is the same way, struggling to figure out if she is still the same person she was back in the day or has she moved on from the terrible thoughts that once plagued her mind.

Being vague about The Drama is no easy task, as so much of the film’s premise centers on it’s central twist early on. It’s one of the risks that The Drama takes here, that if the twist doesn’t actually function then it will lose it’s bite and seeming complexity in favor of cheap shock factor. But The Drama has more interesting ambitions, and by blending time and space in it’s editing allows itself to blur the line of what we think we know and what we don’t know; our imaginations can run wild all they want, but is that really the truth? Or is that the truth we just tell ourselves to feel better about our current situation?

And as the film dives deeper into it’s taboo subject matter – which at the risk of not spoiling it further, involves a major part of American culture that is distinctly American – the internal biases of our characters are laid bare. Some things we just don’t like talking about even if they are necessary cause it makes us uncomfortable, it makes us cringe. The Drama revels in that cringe territory for both dramatic tension but also great comedy as things slowly spiral out of control and characters fumble over on themselves to make justifications for why they are acting the way they are as opposed to simply talking it out like adults.

This line is threaded carefully by both Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, who put in incredible work as the soon to be wedded pair. Their chemistry both before and after the reveal is palpable, and you believe their relationship was healthy before the slow implosion which makes the second thoughts all the more difficult to watch unfold. Pattinson in particular has a heavy task to play a character who is both heavily sympathetic while also actively self-sabotaging, and by the end you aren’t sure whether to pity him, hate him, or want to just hug him.

Granted, the film isn’t sure either, but that’s a feature and not a bug in this case. The Drama makes sure to give no answers to it’s many questions, instead positing them as simply discussion starters to more pressing matters about mental health, our current culture and the way we consume things online, and how we interact with people with preconceived biases already up. Borgli’s direction is fast, bold, and much more in your face then you would expect for a film like this, but it works wonders to keep you engaged as the mental state of the cast spirals out of control.

Ending on a high as well with a final scene that feels straight of a romantic fantasy, it’s clear The Drama stands out as one of more unique dark comedies in recent memory. It’s certainly Borgli’s best – his first film to really, truly nail that surreal atmosphere mixed with societal commentary he’s been aiming for ever since his career got going. And while it’s going to be interesting to see if The Drama has life outside of simply being a discussion starter in the moment, as said discussion starter it absolutely succeeds and has enough meat on it’s bones to recommend it as a full course.