The Drama

Last weekend, The Drama, a new romantic comedy starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, was released in theaters. The film follows engaged couple Charlie and Emma as they plan their wedding. When a surprising part of Emma's past emerges, Charlie questions their relationship and whether he ever truly knew her. I'm not usually a fan of romantic comedies, but I do like both actors, so I was intrigued to see how it would go.

I was a bit mixed on this film. I thought the movie did a good job of capturing the overall chaos of wedding planning and some of the drama that goes with it. The Drama feels a bit like one of those stories you read about on the wedding-disaster subreddit. I thought the Zendaya character was very well done in how it shows her coping with her past and her thought process during that time. It gets a bit into depression and how that can sometimes lead you down a very dark path. I also thought the comedy in this movie was decently done. It isn't the type of humor found in a normal romantic comedy, but it definitely has a dark comedy streak. There were also quite a few cringeworthy moments where you see the Robert Pattinson character do some awkward things that just make you think, "oh don't do that." The movie also does a great job of gradually ramping up the tension with these characters getting more and more stressed out until it blows up at the wedding. The movie also does a good job of tackling the question of whether you truly know the person you are marrying, and of reevaluating the relationship when that is challenged.

The main issue I had was that the main source of conflict was massively overblown. The conflict centers around these characters sharing the worst thing they have ever done, which builds to the "big reveal" of the Zendaya character revealing something mildly disturbing that she almost did when she was 15. When the other characters hear this, it makes the Robert Pattinson character and the Maid of Honor character completely insufferable for the rest of the movie. It just takes me out of the movie, as it just feels like they shouldn't be acting as upset as they get. I also thought that the main messaging was about in-your-face at times, and really could have been pulled back.

Overall, there were quite a few aspects that worked. I just couldn't get on board with the main conflict, as I thought it was massively overblown. I do understand the praise it is getting and see why people would get the premise, but it just isn't my thing.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B- Recommendation: Wait to stream it