Zendaya and Pattinson create worthy Drama
This review will be shorter than usual, because writing about The Drama without giving any spoilers is nearly impossible. There is so much to say about this provocative and highly original film, but the less you know going into it, the more you’ll be able to enjoy its surprises. Suffice to say that I’ve already short-listed the movie for my 2026 Top 10. If you love unexpected, immensely creative, and thought-provoking films, you owe it to yourself to see The Drama.
Written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, who directed Nicolas Cage in 2023’s quirky Dream Scenario, The Drama is more serious, but no less unusual. Robert Pattinson and Oakland’s own Zendaya (Challengers; Dune: Part Two) star as Charlie and Emma, an engaged couple whose giddy prenuptial bliss takes a sharp turn after an evening sampling potential wedding food and wine with good friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie, Patti Cake$) and Rachel (Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza). As the group becomes increasingly tipsy, Emma gives a startling response to a question the foursome take turns answering: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?
This review won’t reveal the answer, but how Emma’s reply affects her relationship with Charlie, Rachel, and others in their orbit makes up the heart of the film. Pattinson and Zendaya have terrific chemistry, and a scene in which they have to pretend to be happy for a wedding photography test-run, even though both are distracted and miserable, is a master-class in how to create and sustain destructive wordless tension. The picture also contains one of the most nerve-wracking and heart-pounding wedding reception sequences ever put on film.
But Borgli’s film isn’t just enjoyable for the intense pressure-cooker he creates. It also delves into weighty sociological, cultural, and psychological issues, in ways both darkly humorous and brazenly direct. How well can we ever really know somebody? How much can we change as we grow into adulthood? And what sorts of mistakes are forgivable and forgettable? If you haven’t yet spent much time pondering these questions, The Drama will start you on an accelerated course to introspective reflection.
My only quibble with the picture – and it’s small – is that several flashbacks show Emma as a young teenager, and the actress playing her (Jordyn Curet) looks absolutely nothing like Zendaya, which makes suspending our disbelief in these scenes a bit difficult. We’re also told repeatedly that Emma blossomed later in life and wasn’t an attractive kid. If Borgli wanted that backstory for the character of Emma, perhaps he should have thought twice about casting Zendaya, who nobody in their right mind would ever conceive of being an ugly duckling. But don’t let that minor distraction keep you from seeing this early year contender for one of 2026’s best films.
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The Drama is currently playing, including at the AMC Metreon, AMC Kabuki, Apple Van Ness, Landmark Opera Plaza, and Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco, the AMC Bay Street in Emeryville, the Landmark Piedmont and Regal Jack London in Oakland, and the Cinemark Century in Walnut Creek.
