The Drama

by Julian Spivey

Photo: A24

Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Starring: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson & Alana Haim
Rated: R (language, sexual content & some violent imagery) 
Runtime: 1 hour & 45 minutes

​Some movies are made for entertainment, and some are made to make you think. The best ones can do both.

Writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama,” now streaming on HBO Max, isn’t all that entertaining, but it will definitely make you think.

The film asks the question, “Is there something in one’s past that can derail a relationship with someone you love, and where is that line?”

The most interesting thing about “The Drama” is that the “can I go on with this person knowing about this thing in their past” question is pretty severe. Borgli has hit upon a topic that, though unfortunately all too commonplace in America, is still a bit taboo. But what the film does with the character whose past is in question – and maybe it’s because the performance by Zendaya as the adult Emma is so gentle – is that you might wind up on her side – at least that’s where I found myself. Though, I suppose, just as easily, there are viewers who would be on the side of Robert Pattinson’s Charlie or Alana Haim’s Rachel because they couldn’t get over the shock and scare of what Emma almost did.

One of the things that surprises me so much about the dialogue that “The Drama” has seen, since its release in early April, is how the character of Rachel is clearly the villain of the piece – which I won’t deny – but isn’t Charlie at least as bad, if not worse, as the future husband for struggling so much with Emma’s past. Is it misogyny and internalized misogyny (because a lot of the people I see talking about Rachel as a villain are, in fact, women) that has led to this belief? Aren’t the things Charlie does to Emma more troublesome? I think this is one of the questions Borgli’s script asks us to think about.

I didn’t come away from “The Drama” feeling entertained, but it did make me think about the questions it’s asking. I’d much rather watch an interesting film than a bad one.

The performances by Zendaya and Pattinson are solid, but the highlight of the film is definitely Borgli’s script; however, I don’t really like his ending, which I don’t want to spoil for those who haven’t yet seen it. I didn’t really come away feeling anything at the film’s end other than that the central premise is interesting and that I wonder what I would do in the same scenario. It’s an interesting enough question to make me recommend the film, despite not loving it, because I’d be interested to see how others would answer it, and which characters they would side with.