The Drama

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Expectation: 🤯😬😭🥰

Reality: 😬🤯😆

(Check out my star rating rubric)

As usual for me of late, I went into The Drama without reading the synopsis or watching the trailer. I’m a huge fan of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, so that was enough for me to see it.

People seem to love or hate A24 films—I feel like I’m in the minority where I’ve been super into some of them and meh on others, but I’ve consistently been pretty uncomfortable watching A24 films (that seems to be their thing) so I went in prepared for that.

The Drama is about a happily engaged couple that, on a night out with friends, reveals the worst thing they’ve ever done, and one of their secrets may be too much for the other and the friends. Chaos ensues.

Since this is a spoiler-free review, I obviously won’t tell you what the secret is, but I am interested to see people’s reactions to it. Personally, I felt it was dark and edgy, but I didn’t think the reactions were warranted.

If someone had shared this secret with me, I would have some questions, but if they were reasonably adjusted, healthy, and moved on from it, I can’t imagine fixating on it the way the characters in the film do, or it being something that would make or break relationships.

Of course, I could be insane, or a much higher threshold for dark and traumatic thoughts than others.

But I found it interesting that of the four characters who sit around a table and share terrible things that they’ve done, the one that is supposed to be the most mentally unstable proves to be the most mentally stable while the others spin out of their minds just from hearing the information.

It made me wonder if the filmmakers were trying to make a larger commentary on the fact that people think those who do this specific thing have to be insane, but as it turns out, some people who make bad or crazy decisions can be quite sane, and people who present completely sane can be driven out of their mind by a sentence.

Perhaps the film dares to ask: what is mental stability?

Zendaya and Pattinson are two of my favorite actors and both performances are phenomenal. The Drama is funny, the tone is consistent, and it’s a little unsettling. The direction, cinematography, wardrobe, and music all work together to execute a cohesive vision.

I ultimately docked a star because it didn’t live up to the anticipated shock value for me, and while the characters’ reactions to the secret were true to character, I couldn’t relate to them because the person who revealed the secret gave absolutely no signs of it still being a thought/desire/issue/concern that warranted the judgement.

If you see it — come back and let me know on my contact page. I’d love to hear your thoughts!