The Drama (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Kristoffer Borgli

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim

Kristoffer Borgli's Dream Scenario (2023) starred Nicolas Cage in a wicked satire about cancel culture.  If you recall, Cage's character inexplicably begins appearing in the dreams of random people and becomes a celebrity, until he suddenly starts killing people in the dreams.  Then, everyone wants nothing to do with him, and he is banished from polite society over something of which he has no control.  The movie took an absurd development and ran with it.  The Drama, Borgli's follow-up, begins with a couple approaching their upcoming wedding like most engaged couples do, and then a confession by Emma (Zendaya) to her husband-to-be Charlie (Pattinson) in front of their best friends alters everything.  It isn't what you think.  It's something no one could see coming but having an affair or a one-night stand would've been preferable in Charlie's mind and the mind of Emma's matron-of-honor (Haim).  

I won't reveal what Emma's secret is, but it forces Charlie to see Emma in a new light and question whether he even wants to marry her on the eve of their wedding.  No one can blame Charlie for having doubts, but the events involving Emma way back in high school did not actually occur.  There I am hinting at the secret, but The Drama is about others' reactions to it.  Emma loves Charlie and wants to marry him.  He's not so sure, but does he want to undo all of the wedding plans and disrupt everyone's schedule?  He oscillates between wanting to proceed with the nuptials and calling the whole thing off.

If nothing else, The Drama's underlying themes are that some things are better left unsaid and people may say they want total honesty from their partner, but the "total" part could present problems.  Zendaya and Pattinson are appealing, but are more acted upon than anything else.  They are almost deliberately unexciting, because what matters more is how Borgli uses them as vessels to further his plot and the questions it presents.  When someone asks you to be totally honest, maybe still think before you say something you'll regret.