The Drama movie review: It’s apt that this film about love and marriage, which is mostly unlike anything you may imagine, calls itself The Drama.

For, as the week before their wedding brings Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson) face to face with all the fears of the unknown that is marriage, this film peels the layers off the theatre that sometimes overwhelms life.

Helmed by its terrifically charismatic leads, with a script that in fact never loses sight of their ordinariness, The Drama woos you over one gentle step at a time.

So what happens when days before the wedding, one discovers a thing about one’s partner that one can’t put behind? They have just had a conversation, which seems too pointless at first but falls into perspective later, about the rush to judge, and judge harshly. The person being judged in this case is the wedding DJ, whom they have caught snorting heroin.

In the light of the “secret” now known about the partner, every present moment takes on a different colour: the reason for the deafness in one ear; the flashes of anger; the red spots on a white lily; the coffee mug with the picture of a gun; even that too-laugh-out-loud laugh.

Emma and Charlie are acutely aware of how things have changed, even as events and wedding preparations and friends (a good Athie, a forceful Haim) hurtle on regardless. Even a wedding photographer, performed by Winters to plastic, toothy perfection, can sense that the vibe is off.

Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli orchestrates the tension beautifully, one wedding formality at a time. Even the wedding speeches are a running gag and climax on D-Day.

Ironically, the thing that keeps tripping up the film is also Borgli’s doing, who is also the co-editor. The non-linear cuts in the storytelling are jarring and disconcerting. These are incessant and, interspersed with products of Charlie’s imagination that is now running wild, can make following the story difficult.

Also Read – Maamla Legal Hai 2 review: Ravi Kishan show builds on its strengths, with only a few missteps

While the basic idea of how a relationship can easily wobble is strong, some of the set-ups seem to be staged more for laughs than real insight.

However, the distractions notwithstanding, it’s hard to keep eyes off Zendaya and Pattinson. Though Robert’s artsy, angsty, uppity mop does come in the way.

The Drama movie director: Kristoffer Borgli
The Drama movie cast: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, Zoe Winters
The Drama movie rating: 3.5 stars

Watch Chetak Screen Awards 2026 LIVE on YouTube, Sony Entertainment Television, and Sony LIV on April 5 at 8 pm.