Film Review: ‘The Drama’ Has a Game Zendaya and Robert Pattinson But Can’t Sustain the Comedic Momentum

It’s hard to argue that filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli doesn’t have a hell of a hook with his movies. Much like with Dream Scenario (reviewed here), his latest film The Drama begins with an incredibly intriguing premise. The thing is, the same issue pops up, which is that once all of the flick’s cards are on the table, things get less and less interesting. Borgli is, in some ways, the storyteller equivalent of the dog chasing the car, just with the car being audience attention. Once he catches it, he’s not fully sure what to do with it. Slowly but sure, the promise of this work wastes away, and even with a strong resolution, ends up being a less than satisfying experience.

The Drama is hard to discuss without spoiling what “the thing” is, but I’m going to do my best. Being surprised by the reveal is important, as well as robs the film of really the main thing, aside from the performances, that it has going for it. There isn’t enough “there” there to begin with, so if you already know what’s going to shock everyone, you’re putting the movie at even more of a disadvantage. So, tread lightly on the internet, but fear not here, as I’m not saying.

For Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya), their relationship has been out of a romantic comedy, even down to the awkward meet cute. Now engaged, with the wedding approaching, we’re introduced to them as Charlie is getting feedback on his wedding speech from best friend/best man Mike (Mamoudou Athie). Emma is out with Mike’s wife/her maid of honor Rachel (Alana Haim), giving us the four characters we’ll largely be around. The week of the wedding, the four are together to finalize the menu, drinking and telling stories. Mike and Rachel bring up the topic of the worst thing they’ve all done, with their own tales leading off. Charlie stumbles around his, while Emma is silent. Prodded into telling hers, she throws everyone for a loop.

In an instant, Rachel is ready to be done with Emma, Mike thinks Charlie should call off the wedding, and Charlie doesn’t know what to think. He wants to talk to her about it incessantly, while she just wants to move on. The more details he gets (featuring young Emma, played by Jordyn Curet), the weirder things get for them, as tensions run high. On the day of the wedding, things go even more off the rails, with the situation finally boiling over.

Zendaya leads the way here, though both leads are very good, as our our central supporting players. The screenplay shortchanges them all, though Zendaya breaks free of that limitation. Since she’s not hearing this revelation for the first time, we get a lot of her showing how Emma takes in how people change around her. It’s the truest emotion in the film, thanks to her work. Robert Pattinson is having a good time playing a meek man, though the script doesn’t add much in the way of layering to that, especially as he starts making absurd decisions in the back half of the movie. Their happier moments feature some excellent rom com style chemistry, while their awkward and strained ones find the cringe comedy in it all. Mamoudou Athie is the straight man here, while Alana Haim gets to go big, and they’re the highlights of the big first act scene. In addition to Jordyn Curet, the supporting players here include Hailey Gates, Hannah Gross, Sydney Lemmon, Zoë Winters, and more.

Writer/director Kristoffer Borgli is obviously tickled with what he’s come up with here, and that’s fine, except for the fact that he never builds on it. Half of the movie is just reactions, which becomes monotonous, even as some are fairly humorous. Borgli’s writing is mining some very touchy territory for jokes, and while I wasn’t offended in the least, some already are. That’s hardly the issue, as challenging cinema is one of the hallmarks of the art form. You just wish it was in service of something more fulfilling. The visuals in The Drama are nothing to write home about, though the score from composer Daniel Pemberton is quite nice, often tied into an amusing or surprising moment.

The Drama isn’t quite serious enough or silly enough to overcome the lack of momentum once the big reveal happens. I enjoyed the first act, got very little out of the second act, and was worn out by the time the third act was wrapping up, to the point where a highlight sequence didn’t quite land for me. That being said, the final scene is very good, ends things on a note that you might not expect, and calls back to a fun moment earlier on. I wish more of what had come before was on that level, so I could recommend this. As it stands, it falls just shy of that mark.

SCORE: ★★1/2