The Drama (2026)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, April 02

R Running Time: 106 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Zendaya and Robert Pattinson have excellent chemistry in the first of three films they will co-star in with each other in 2026.

  • Definitely a conversation starter of a film, exploring compelling themes of relationship dynamics and friendship.

  • Takes big swings, which some viewers will absolutely love …

NO

  • And others will be exhausted by the big swings in The Drama, as the film grows more and more repetitive and exhausting.

  • The premise paints the film into a narrative corner it can never escape from

  • Over-edited with a smugness that becomes frustrating and exasperating the longer the film goes.


OUR REVIEW

There is something incredibly audacious about The Drama, and part of me genuinely admires it. At the same time, I understand why A24 has asked critics not to discuss the film’s central premise until audiences have had a chance to see it. Writer/director Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario) swings big, delivering a film that becomes far more interested in provoking a reaction than building a logical or cohesive emotional structure.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star as Emma and Charlie, and they are excellent together. As a couple one week away from their wedding, their relationship begins with a little white lie that eventually grows into something much larger. One of the many questions Borgli asks is whether a love can survive dishonesty. Perhaps more interestingly, the film also explores whether love can withstand a kind of brutal honesty that forces you to see your partner or companion in an entirely different light. 

Like much of what we witness in The Drama, Borgli wants to examine both sides of an issue at pretty much the same time.

In all honesty, a simple internet search will reveal the film’s “OMG” moment. Despite A24’s efforts, the premise has already entered public discourse, generating an understandably polarizing reaction. I’ll respect A24’s request and not mention it here. Instead, I think what matters more is what Borgli does with the moment once it occurs. He seems to enjoy dancing on a razor-thin line between bold, provocative storytelling and tasteless exploitation. He delights in framing his movie as a cinematic version of a hidden camera “What Would You Do?” scenario. As a result, you cannot help but wonder just how seriously he stands behind its own provocation.

Walking out of The Drama, I was honestly exhausted. Not really challenged, not energized, not even angry. Just tired. The Drama is engaging until it isn’t, tense and unnerving until it becomes repetitive. A cast of interesting characters, including Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie as Charlie and Emma’s best friends, gradually evolve into folks far more frustrating the longer they appear on screen. 

Maybe that’s the point. Maybe The Drama is designed to show us the very things it wants to explore, while exploring them. Namely, relationships and conversations that seem strong but ultimately collapse under their own weight. 

Borgli’s scattershot rhythm with his storytelling keeps you engaged early on, but the incessant, showy editing and increasingly cumbersome dialogue becomes empty and threadbare. For a film focused on analyzing vulnerability, trust, and truth, The Drama looks unsettled and appears unnecessarily busy, lacking conviction to stand behind its own emotional unraveling.

Here, in the world of The Drama, everything is treated as potentially funny. In reality, not everything should be. The film raises compelling questions about accountability, forgiveness, and whether someone can truly move on from a darker, more troubled version of themselves. Does it actually want to investigate those ideas? Not exactly. Borgli apparently just wants us to laugh when we feel uncomfortable and snicker at the disquieting realities playing out before us. 

That said, I must admit that The Drama is a great conversation starter. It offers just enough kindling to spark a hot debate. However, like most conversations built around a shocking detail, the movie just flames out, never truly providing any real resolution and smoldering in a pit of its own ashes. 

By the end, this pivots from an examination of human relationships to more of an experiment in audience reaction. Overall the film feels disingenuous. And though it burns bright at first, it quickly fades into something cold and inaccessible - an uncertain, unsatisfying dissection of something that feels altogether inconsequential.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie, Hailey Gates, Sydney Lemmon, Zoë Winters, Anna Baryshnikov, Michael Abbott Jr.

Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Written by: Kristoffer Borgli
Release Date: April 3, 2026
A24