#291: The Drama

Release Date: April 3rd, 2026

Format: DCP (Cinemark Downey and XD in Downey, CA)

Written by: Kristoffer Borgli

Directed by: Kristoffer Borgli

3 Stars

Your enjoyment of writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama might just hinge on whether or not you buy the premise of said drama. 

I’m not so sure I did, but I still found plenty to like here.

The story is about a hip young couple, Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson), who meet cute, fall in love, and begin preparing their dream wedding. All of this is interrupted one night when, while dining with friends, they begin a drunken conversation about the worst thing that each of them has ever done. Emma’s reveal is so unnerving to the others that it not only ruins the evening, it threatens to unravel her relationship with Charlie, who becomes fixated on her indiscretion. 

If I could, I’d say to Charlie, get over it my dude. Sure it’s bad, but given the context and the fact that it’s the girl you love, it’s not that bad. 

Despite my reservations with this aspect of Borgli’s script, I enjoyed his storytelling, even if I wasn’t buying all of it. His pacing and the energy of the film is attractive, and he builds out the relationship between Emma and Charlie through flashbacks and intimate moments that feel relatable. 

Zendaya and Pattinson have a nice chemistry on screen. Even when their characters are bringing out the worst sides of each other, you still get a sense that they really do love each other. 

This all culminates in a sweet little scene at a diner that will charm you into forgiving Borgli for any sins of his script. At least it did for me.