Wedding-week jitters of the worst and most nuclear kind are at the center of The Drama, a darkly funny and unhappy movie in which Zendaya and Robert Pattinson have no intention of delivering the typical wedding-themed rom-com.
The Drama is a super-raw, dark, dark exercise from director Kristoffer Borgli, who delivered the vastly underrated and quite amazing Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage back in 2023. Borgli isn’t afraid to get weird and make you twitch in your seat. I know that’s not a good time for many, but I’m game if the story justifies it.
The film starts off sweet enough, with a meet-cute in which shy Charlie (Pattinson) awkwardly yet effectively flirts with Emma (Zendaya) in a coffee shop. The two have a whirlwind romance, and they find themselves engaged and sharing a wedding-week dinner with best man Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and maid of honor Rachel (Alana Haim).
They engage in a fun round of “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” for shits and giggles; some appalling revelations are made; and the film goes off into another dimension.
You’ll find no spoilers here, other than me saying this film isn’t afraid to explore mighty uncomfortable places that require its performers to go completely unhinged.
The movie addresses the notion that no matter how much you think you might know somebody you’ve met as an adult, they’ve had an entire life before meeting you, and it’s impossible to know everything about it. If you love somebody, you shouldn’t care about their transgressions, right? Or should you?
Both Emma and Mike wind up being characters you are pulling for, no matter where the story goes, thanks to the fine work of the two stars. This is the most realistic troubled couple in a movie since, well, Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence squared off in last year’s Die My Love.
Zendaya is going to have a gigantic year. Not only does she burn up the screen in this one, but 2026 will also see her in Season 3 of Euphoria, the next Spider-Man movie and Dune: Part Three. It is the year of the Zendaya! She brings so much raw-nerve energy to the role of Emma that it’s hard to imagine anybody else tackling the role.
Pattinson—who, we should all be reminded, is Batman—astounds as well. The movie allows him to use his British accent (it’s a nice flavor for the character) and requires a lot of crying and super-stressing; he matches Zendaya step for step. The two will easily be remembered as one of this year’s most memorable screen couples.
Haim delivers big-time as somebody who is not afraid to speak their mind and ruffle some feathers. She has four feature screen credits so far, the others being Licorice Pizza (2021), The Mastermind (2025) and One Battle After Another (2025). She’s boasting a perfect film record this far.
I’ve rarely witnessed anything like the aftermath of this screening in the years I’ve been reviewing movies. This one got people lathered up. When I walked into the lobby, there were packs of people all over the place arguing over the film. I overheard one group yelling, “That movie was a 10!” with somebody countering, “That was a 2!” Needless to say, the film is divisive and will elicit a wide range of reactions.
If you are about to get married, opt for something like Project Hail Mary for your movie-date night instead of this one, at least until you are past your honeymoon. If there was ever a movie that could cancel a wedding, it’s The Drama.