Who hurt Kristoffer Borgli? The Dream Scenario director is now 2 for 2 on movies about relationships that fall into some form of crisis. The Drama dispenses with the dreams and goes right for the jugular, taking swoon worthy Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, and trying to emotionally destroy them onscreen so everyone despises them. Listen Kris, just go to therapy please? And leave Zendaya alone at least; Pattinson can use this for Bruce Wayne later.
We’re fast approaching Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie’s (Robert Pattinson) wedding. This is the last week whirlwind before the show, as the last parts of the day are being put in place. At a last taste testing dinner, their best friends/couple Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim) tell Emma/Charlie to reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done, in a bit of drunken daring. Mike, Rachel, and Charlie’s stories are tough…but relatively palatable. Emma’s? Well…
That tease is built into the trailer, and is the lynchpin for Borgli’s film. It’s pretty gross all around; that initial uncomfortable romcom vibe just gets replaced by discomfort, and maybe a little anger. But that’s not enough: after the shock’s over, Borgli takes us down into the tornado of bad vibes, making us sit in them. The director shifts focus more towards Charlie’s feelings about this reveal, putting us in his headspace (masterfully, with incredible editing). While intentional, it adds to the ickiness by sidelining Emma and her having to relive the bad times evermore because I’m guessing that would be too painful, instead drifting towards the crash out of Charlie, cackling along as the awkward spiral he leaves in his wake. This all builds to the wedding the feel bad movie moment of the year, where all the anger and bad behavior just unleashes in a way where I instinctively just covered my face to avoid the cringe breaking my nose. And the bloody cherry on top is the ending, which undercuts the daring cynicism of the rest of The Drama.
And yet, through my fingers, I couldn’t look away, and was often cackling against my better judgment. There’s some really insightful stuff, amidst the evil. Like Phantom Thread, Borgli identifies how imperfect people can maybe make a perfect relationship; he just shows this by giving us outsider point of views. Emma’s reveal is the worst and seeing Rachel get pissed off would make sense…. except Rachel’s reveal is truly terrible too, and watching Mike and Charlie work at defending their partner to the other is showing “crazy, but my kind of crazy.” It’s Borgli’s devilish wit that keeps The Drama from subsuming the film; this is going to be a contender for the funniest movie of the year for its highs. There’s a runner about the wedding DJ that fits into the movie but also has the characters overexplain their feelings that only makes the gag funnier. The scene where Charlie tries to explain what he’s going through with a co-worker, Misha (Hailey Gates), almost had me crying. No one crafts the awkwardness of bad sexual encounters for humor better than Kris.
I hope everyone involved survives The Drama. Biggest props to Zendaya, who’s playing the Emma Stone playbook masterfully, taking weird, bold directions with her career. I wonder what Chani would feel about Emma’s story? I know what House Harkonnen and their white soaked baths will think about it.