Table of Contents
The Drama shows when honesty wrecks everything
KRISTOFFER Borgli’s The Drama is the kind of movie that has you physically reacting every few minutes.
You are wincing, cringing, muttering “Oh my God” under your breath, then immediately thinking “Why would they say that?” The dialogue does most of the damage. Almost every line feels like something that should have stayed unsaid, but comes out anyway.
Starts sweet, then completely derails
The first act plays it straight. Meet-cute at a cafe, slightly awkward flirting, then it builds into dates, couple hangouts, double dates and wedding planning. It is very standard rom-com territory, almost suspiciously normal.
Then the female lead drops her “worst thing I’ve ever done” confession and the entire movie just snaps.
From there, everything becomes tense and awkward in the best way. Conversations drag on too long, people overshare, judge and people panic. Everyone starts acting a bit dumb, but not in a bad writing way.
It feels real. This is exactly how people behave when they are nervous and trying to process something way above their emotional pay grade.
Pattinson unravels, Zendaya holds the line
Robert Pattinson as Charlie Thompson is easily the standout here. His performance is all in the small things. The way he looks at Emma after the reveal, the way he carries himself and the way he starts to spiral without fully saying it. His face does a lot of the work.
It is a huge contrast to how emotionally stunted he was as Bruce Wayne in The Batman (2022). Here, he is messy, anxious, overthinking everything and slowly falling apart.
Zendaya is just as solid, but in a different way. She plays Emma Harwood like someone who is constantly trying to contain damage. You can see the anxiety in every interaction after the reveal. She knows things are bad, and just keeps trying to hold it together even when it is clearly not working.
It is also an interesting year for Zendaya and Pattinson, who are set to share the screen again in Dune: Part Three and The Odyssey. The contrast is hard to miss. Those are large-scale productions, while The Drama keeps both actors in tight, uncomfortable spaces where every reaction is exposed.
Everyone else is a lot
Rachel (Alana Haim) is easily the worst person in the movie. Not the worst written, just the worst as a human being.
She is already annoying before Emma’s secret comes out, throwing snarky comments like it is her full-time job. She, then, goes full moral high ground after, although her own confession is terrible. The hypocrisy is almost impressive.
Charlie is not much better by the end. He spends so much time judging Emma that he ends up spiralling into something worse himself. The Drama quietly points that out without making a big speech about it.
At some point you realise these people deserve each other.
Somehow still funny
Even with all the tension, The Drama is genuinely funny. Not in a forced way, not built around punchlines or obvious setups. It leans fully into awkwardness and lets scenes run just long enough for the discomfort to turn into humour.
People talk over each other, say the wrong thing, then try to fix it and only make it worse. Conversations stall, restart and spiral into places no one intended. The comedy comes from recognising those moments, the kind where you feel a situation slipping, but no one knows how to stop it.
Weird edits, but they work
The editing is certainly interesting. Scenes do not always transition smoothly, and sometimes they cut abruptly in a way that feels almost jarring.
Moments end before they fully settle, then jump straight into the next interaction without that usual sense of closure. It removes the buffer most films give you between scenes, so the discomfort carries over instead of fading out.
There are also some random surreal shots thrown in to show what characters are feeling or imagining. They are not overused, so when they show up, they actually land.
Whole school shooting angle
This part might feel distant if you are not used to that kind of context. The reactions from characters varies. Some feel grounded, some feel over the top. Rachel especially goes all in, maybe a bit too much.
The Drama is less interested in the event itself, but more in how people react to knowing something like that about someone close to them.
What is the point?
Maybe it is about forgiveness, or about how everyone has done something terrible in some form, or how people judge until they are put in the same position.
Or maybe it is just about watching people absolutely fumble their way through a situation they cannot handle.
Final thoughts
The Drama is uncomfortable on purpose and very good at it. It is messy, awkward, sometimes frustrating, but always engaging.
You might not like the characters. You might question their decisions. But you will definitely react to them.
READ MORE:
Wuthering Heights review: Lovers in ruin
Iron Lung Review: Markiplier brings indie horror game to big screen
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die review: Absurd, funny and anti-AI
Send Help review: Sam Raimi returns to horror with twisted island thriller
