Review | ‘The Drama’ forces viewers to look inwards before judging its characters, and the world at large

Spoiler-free review.

“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

This question, asked about 20 minutes into “The Drama,” ruminates throughout the film, driving its characters into chaos and distrust. Released on April 3, “The Drama” follows fiancées only a week before their wedding. The film is a messy adrenaline rush, making my heart pound from secondhand embarrassment and constantly keeping me on the edge of my seat. Charlie, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, and Emma, portrayed by Zendaya, confess to each other the very worst thing each of them has ever done. Emma’s wrongdoing, from deep within her past, sends Charlie into a spiral, questioning if he truly knows the person he is soon to marry.

Don’t let the star-studded leads and their successful promotion campaign fool you — “The Drama” is not a romantic comedy. Some might find it darkly comedic, and even fewer may find it romantic, but at its core, it is a psychological drama. Instead of leaving the theater filled with a lovey-dovey spirit, you may be reeling to ask your partner, your friends and yourself the film’s leading introspective question.

Would people look at you differently if they knew?

As Emma tries to continue planning her wedding, she quickly realizes that the answer to this question is “yes.” In every interaction with her fiancé, she can tell that he holds her secret at the forefront of his mind. When the couple is taking wedding photos, the scene cuts quickly between normal shots of the two and shots where nothing changes, besides Emma, who is now a teenage girl. This is further intercut with a romantic flashback of joyful moments on a date. However, instead of Zendaya, Charlie embraces Jordyn Curet, the actress who plays a teenage Emma. In these spliced-together shots, Charlie believes that when he loves Emma, he is loving every version of her. Suddenly, the woman who has been his best friend and partner for two years becomes, essentially, a stranger.

Charlie is not the only one to see Emma differently after she reveals her secret. The entire idea of confessing the worst thing you’ve done right before your wedding came from their friends and married couple, Mike, portrayed by Mamoudou Athie, and Rachel, portrayed by Alana Haim. Charlie and Emma’s disclosure of the worst part of themselves was not an intimate moment between lovers, but instead a joking conversation piece between four friends, accompanied by laughter and alcohol. However, when Emma shares her confession, laughter brutally morphs into screaming accusation and vitriol, most of it coming from Rachel.

Do you think others have done worse? Does that make you better?

For Rachel, Emma’s wrongdoing seemingly makes hers better. Rachel admits to locking her neighbor with mental disabilities in an RV closet, in the middle of the woods, when they were both children and abandoning him. She makes light of this repulsive action, yet wastes no time shaming, slandering and degrading Emma for her wrongdoing, which — without revealing too much — was more of a thought than an action. Instead of truly caring about her friend and the reasoning behind her dark past, Rachel is more interested in the drama of it all — humiliating Emma in the snarkiest way possible.

Rachel, brought brilliantly to detestable life by Haim, is perhaps the most hateable character I’ve seen in a long time. She is hypocritical, reactionary, untrustworthy and, possibly worst of all, representative of the average viewer, including myself. As a society, we have seemingly moved towards a culture of casting harsh judgment upon others before looking inwards at ourselves. This is not to say we should forgive all wrongdoings and look past atrocities, only that we should consider our hypocrisy before we brutally call each other out.

Can you still be loved despite this?

Above all else, “The Drama” questions the conditions of unconditional love. Is it possible to love someone the same after discovering something bad about them? When you care for and love someone, are you with who they are now, or every version of them, including the angsty and depressed teen in a dark place? “The Drama” does not give a clear answer to these questions. Instead, they become something to ponder and discuss, and this film serves as the perfect jumping-off point for the rhetoric they provoke.

“The Drama” is a film that is meant to be discussed. Charlie and Emma are complicated characters with layers of nuance and complexity. The film does not explicitly tell you whether they are good or bad — it is up to each viewer to determine and shape their own perceptions. Emma believes in starting over and second chances, things that seem to be disappearing from relationships, both platonic and romantic. The film left me reflecting on if and when this open-mindedness is possible.

Laid out in the film are contemporary issues that I believe will resonate with a young-adult audience. I left the theater wondering not only if Charlie and Emma were good characters, but if I was a good person. The drama urges introspection, for us to look at ourselves and our lived experiences before we look at others. Bundled up in a chaotic, messy and darkly humorous film are deeper questions to discuss, related to both the film itself and life entirely separate from it. As time passes, I believe “The Drama” will solidify itself as a classic Gen-Z film, representative of our current culture.