Before Zendaya and Robert Pattinson share the screen in massive spectacles like The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three later this year, they first team up for something far smaller and far stranger. The Drama is not a blockbuster, but rather an offbeat, unsettling A24 romantic comedy of sorts. And “of sorts” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, because while the film may initially resemble a familiar love story, it quickly reveals itself to be anything but.
Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film begins with a deceptively simple premise. Charlie (Pattinson), a British museum director, meets Emma (Zendaya), a bookstore clerk from Baton Rouge, in what feels like the start of a conventional romance. The early stretches of the film lean into that expectation, especially as the narrative jumps ahead to the days leading up to their wedding. Much of the first act revolves around Charlie and Emma preparing their wedding speeches, workshopping anecdotes, and reflecting on their relationship. These scenes are grounded, talky, and impressively naturalistic, filled with overlapping dialogue and the kind of conversational rhythms that feel pulled straight from real life.
That sense of realism is especially evident in their interactions with Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), whose presence adds both texture and perspective to the central relationship. The dialogue across these scenes is sharp and lived-in, capturing the casual intimacy of long-term relationships and friendships. At first, it all feels disarmingly normal—almost too normal. Then, without much warning, the film takes a dark turn.
An early conversation reveals something deeply unsettling about Emma—something that fundamentally alters how the others see her. It’s the kind of revelation that doesn’t just complicate a relationship; it destabilizes it entirely. In an instant, the person Charlie believed he knew is replaced by someone else, someone unfamiliar and difficult to reconcile with the woman he loves. From that point on, The Drama becomes less about a wedding and more about whether that wedding should happen at all.
What follows is a tense and often uncomfortable unraveling. Emma spends much of the film trying to explain herself, to reassert her identity, and to convince Charlie that she is still the person he fell in love with. The film supplements this present-day conflict with flashbacks to Emma’s adolescence. These glimpses into her past are often surprisingly dark and emotionally revealing. These sequences don’t just provide context; they deepen the ambiguity surrounding Emma, forcing both Charlie and the audience to grapple with who she really is.
Zendaya delivers one of her most layered performances to date, balancing vulnerability, defensiveness, and a quiet desperation to be understood. Pattinson, meanwhile, plays Charlie with a controlled unease, capturing the slow erosion of trust with remarkable subtlety. Together, they create a dynamic that feels painfully real: two people clinging to a relationship that may no longer make sense.
Among the supporting cast, Alana Haim stands out in a particularly compelling way. Rachel is not content to sit on the sidelines; she forms her own opinion about Emma and isn’t afraid to voice it. Her perspective introduces an additional layer of tension, often challenging both Emma’s version of events and Charlie’s willingness to accept it. Haim brings a sharpness to the role that makes every scene she’s in feel charged and unpredictable.
Fans of Borgli’s previous film, Dream Scenario, will recognize his signature tonal balancing act here. The Drama walks a razor-thin line between dark drama and an even darker sense of humor. The comedy doesn’t come from punchlines so much as from discomfort; from the awkward pauses, the misaligned reactions, and the sheer absurdity of trying to navigate something so emotionally volatile in such a contained setting.
What makes the film particularly effective is its willingness to sit in that discomfort. Borgli doesn’t rush to provide answers or easy resolutions. Instead, he leans into the tension, allowing scenes to stretch and simmer. Conversations loop back on themselves, arguments resurface, and the same emotional beats are revisited from slightly different angles. This approach can make the second act feel somewhat repetitive, as if the film is circling the same questions without moving forward. But there’s also an intentionality to that repetition; it mirrors the way real-life conflicts often unfold, with no clean progression or resolution.
As the story moves into its final act, the emotional stakes intensify, and the central conflict comes to a head in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable. The Drama is especially thought-provoking when it invites viewers to place themselves in Charlie’s position. What would you do if you discovered this secret about the person you love? How do you reconcile past and present when they no longer align?
Despite its heavy themes, the film ultimately lands on a note that is unexpectedly tender. It’s a quiet, hard-earned sweetness that doesn’t erase the discomfort or the darkness that came before it, but instead coexists with it. That balance is what makes The Drama so compelling. It’s a film that thrives on contradiction: funny yet unsettling, simple yet emotionally complex, intimate yet deeply disorienting.
In the end, The Drama explores how easily love can be destabilized when the image we have of someone is disrupted, and how difficult it is to rebuild that image once it’s been shattered. It’s an uncomfortable watch, but intentionally so, and often a very funny one at that. For a film that begins with wedding speeches, it’s remarkable how far The Drama strays from anything resembling a traditional romantic comedy. And yet, by the time it reaches its conclusion, it manages to find something strangely sincere within all the awkwardness and unease. It’s not the love story you’d expect, but it’s one you’ll never forget.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our The Drama review.
