With Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as the leads of the movie, “The Drama” was everything one would expect from an A24 “romantic” movie. The story follows two individuals that meet each other in a coffee shop and form a relationship based on second chances. They have a beautiful whirlwind romance and are soon to be married, and though the film advertises itself as one about marriage, it is much more than that. It explores the secrets we hide from people and the way people treat each other’s pasts through one question: What is the worst thing you have ever done? The dark comedy and absurdity of the film allows it to send a very poignant message of second chances and hypocrisy.
Horror movie and comedy lovers will definitely enjoy this movie as it was as hilarious as it was shocking and almost disturbing. The characters are all also very nuanced and real human beings one could encounter in the real world. Zendaya’s character Emma is flawed but very forgiving, which contrasts with her seemingly perfect fiance (Pattinson) who turns out to be unable to forgive as easily and capable of bad things as well. It is a marriage of both comedy and horror, one that I believe is well worth the movie ticket. Unlike newer movies, it doesn’t have awkwardly-placed technology and mentions of AI, and instead shows very real scenarios of people in our modern world in a way that makes it timeless and not hugely indicative of where we are in life. It holds a very universal message of the judgement people pass that I haven’t seen shown in this way in many films, as weddings usually always signify a happy ending in a movie. Seeing the intricacies of a marriage in such a strange and almost dark way puts it into a new perspective, and the aesthetics of the movie have been a great aid to this.
Each sound and light choice in this movie seemed carefully picked, used to imitate the times we are in and the phases both the characters were in. Zendaya’s performance was brilliant and complex, never letting you fully trust her character until the end but feeling a sort of familiarity with her struggle of having your past chase you. Robert Pattinson was a great aid to her performance and gave his own insanely nuanced performance, allowing me to move away from the big names and see them simply as the people they played.
This movie was one of the best I have seen this year, and I don’t tend to love newer movies with big actors that read as cash grabs. This is not that at all, as it was well thought out and has a message that stayed with me well after the film. I think with all of the drama going on in our lives, I would recommend this to anyone that wants to take a break and watch someone else go crazy instead.
