The Drama film review: Haunting and unsettling
Hollywood hot shots put themselves on the line in a film that offends and provokes with spectacular effect
A romantic comedy more in the mould of Force Majeure than Father Of The Bride, The Drama daringly subverts the typical American wedding flick. It lobs a narrative hand grenade into the build-up to a couple’s big day, before revelling in the psychological destruction. The film is the brainchild of Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (the man behind the deliriously deranged Dream Scenario and Sick Of Myself), who brings together two of the hottest young stars in Hollywood, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.
The pair play Emma and Charlie, an affluent and attractive couple putting the final touches to their wedding plans. During a drunken conversation with friends Mike and Rachel (Mamoudou Athie and Alana Haim), the pair reveal the worst things they have ever done; when Emma shares hers, it shakes the quartet to the core and causes Charlie to question just who he has fallen in love with. Despite attempts to keep shtum about its early-doors revelation, The Drama has already caused controversy for making light of sensitive subject matter.
An understandable reaction, perhaps, but the film is not what it seems: it’s pretty dark for one thing, and less about the specific nature of Emma’s secret (which won’t be disclosed here) and more the terrifying unknowability of others, while it savagely parodies the need to keep up appearances, even when faced with a situation so apparently unsalvageable. The Drama embraces its discomfort in a way that feels distinctly uncommercial, with an unsettling score that’s jittery and haunting.
If Zendaya’s dour, introspective shtick is well employed, Pattinson’s performance is a masterclass in pained pomposity, as Charlie attempts to repair the couple’s reputation, before spiralling spectacularly. Sweetening the deal are some outstanding supporting turns, including Haim as a vindictive maid-of-honour and scene-stealing stuff from Succession’s Zoë Winters playing a manic wedding photographer. In many ways, it’s the ideal fit for our social media obsessed age, a time of extreme content and quests for perfection. The Drama shows us the horror behind a carefully cultivated façade.
The Drama is in cinemas from Friday 3 April.