THE DRAMA (2026) - dir kristoffer borgli, starring zendaya, robert pattinson, alana haim

saw this last night. I'll avoid spoilers for now, because I think the main reveal is pretty central to the film (and likely lots of the discussion), but overall I found it just ok. it looked very nice (particularly to someone who misses boston), two strong lead performances -- but I found parts of it silly and thought the flashbacks to young emma just didn't work at all. all the theaters near me were completely packed and it seems like it's having a strong opening, which is nice to see

I mostly liked it. It worked for me as cringe comedy / satire about relationships. I also thought it was very stylishly made, with some creative editing choices. But I had trouble buying the emotional reactions to Emma's reveal. I don't think the movie is very interested in the subject of the reveal except as a provocation to set the plot in motion. Which is fine, but I feel like some of the implications could have been thought through a bit more.

completely agree with that. I also forgot to mention is is genuinely funny, it did succeed there imo.

I also haven't seen much of zendaya's work apart from the dunes, and thought she was quite good. pattinson as usual was great. haim...I really don't understand how she's become this star.

haim was put in a tough spot with the part to be fair, because her reaction was the most baffling and ridiculous

I compared it to the company of men (labute); non-compliment. Thought it wasnt funny and Z wasnt given anything to do an no interiority. It’s basically pattinson’s story; sorry bout his character’s boner. Haim is just a screeching nag

I watched this in a small packed cinema. Not even a giggle from the audience there but maybe its too cringey for that. Again, I thought it was only ok and I thought Dream Scenario worked a lot better. The whole movie hinges on that one gag/reveal and I find it becomes limited and a bit labored because of that.

"Okay" was my reaction too. Considering that it's about a serious topic, it felt a bit empty. I didn't find myself emotionally engaged.

However, there were some pretty fucked up parts that I keep thinking about. Charlie's decided to just run with the car crash story, and as he's telling it, he's luridly fantasizing about the trauma that he wishes Emma had experienced.

Also, I lived in Medford for a few years, and I didn't find that the Boston setting came through especially strongly. Maybe I was missing some stuff. I thought it was New York for like the first half.

I've got nothing but admiration for how Pattinson (and Kristen Stewart) have chosen projects, but as much as I wanna see Pattinson in something light this doesn't look interesting.

Everything I've seen Haim pop up in, even for a few minutes, I always think ... why her? One Battle, The Mastermind, Licorice Pizza ... Obv. I know the PTA connection, but she has no notable acting chops. Mostly I see her and think, yep that's Alana Haim.

Knowing the reveal of this movie, it does seem to me more of a lazy/shocking provocation and less a subject to be interrogated. I do like Zendaya and Pattison in pretty much everything, though.

i did not enjoy this film. 'force majeure' got there first and did it better, and i don't even love that movie by any stretch. i think in particular the emotional driver of the action being the haim sister's apparent deep connection to her paraplegic cousin who is barely in the film... i just felt like we could have hung the entire second half of the film on something more meaningful

ultimately i didn't think this film really had anything to say about How We Live Now or relationships or even really about its characters. the central question on its face -- what if your partner planned a school shooting as a child? -- is not even all that interesting to consider, to me, in the grand scheme of american teenage culture, and the film really did not do much, in my eyes, to justify it as a source of scandalization. the zendaya femcel stuff was kinda just there... i had a hard time understanding why exactly i was watching this movie. i took very little away from it. it was not a particularly inviting film to the eye. idk

the fact that the director is norwegian and the whole premise of the film is based on something that is very deeply american feels instructive to me ... imo the film comes off as if it was made by an observer at a zoo, rather than someone w/ any particular sort of insight into what he is observing

Trailer had me intrigued, and I'll probably still see it, but stupidly went ahead and read something today that revealed the big surprise (it was a short enough blurb that I assumed I'd be safe).

i really don't consider it a surprise or twist. it's a plot point. i don't understand that framing at all

It's certainly framed that way in the trailer.

Also in this thread: "Knowing the reveal of this movie..."

yeah, again, i don't see it

There is a reveal of the specific bad thing she did, which we're ideally not supposed to know in advance.

i guess you could call it a "surprise" insofar as any plot point in a story you haven't yet consumed is a "surprise"...

I'm not saying that once you've seen it, you won't think that particular plot point is more or less important than 100 other things in the film. (Now that I know what the surprise is, it's less shocking than whatever I imagined.) But that is 100% how it's marketed in the trailer. And it worked on me, to a degree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk

It's a movie about secrets being revealed, and the marketing of it is supposed to make us want to know what the secret is. Knowing it in advance isn't like knowing just any other plot point.

I wouldn't call it a "surprise" either, tbf.

Ultimately though it isn't much more than a McGuffin. You could sub in a different "bad thing Emma did" without changing a whole lot.

I agree that it is the premise rather than a twist, but the marketing for the movie does treat it like a secret and perhaps for good reason. I saw the trailer before Project Hail Mary, and it definitely made me interested in seeing the movie to find out what it was.

Accordingly, I purposefully avoided spoilers. My wife accidentally saw what the reveal was and decided not to see the movie because of it. For that reason, I thought it was going to be much more ... I dunno, transgressive. Not that it would be a better movie if it were, but I do wonder if my expectations affected how I ultimately viewed it.

rosebud is a sled

The thing to do is not watch trailers. I don't.

I only watch them in the movie theater.

I walk in 20 minutes after start time and STIll get fuckin' two more.

I really like this director— I worked on his previous picture. I do think there’s a disconnect between his intention and his execution (insofar as Sick Of Myself and Dream Scenario are concerned). I haven’t seen this yet but I intend to get really stoned before I do so haha

the fact that the director is norwegian and the whole premise of the film is based on something that is very deeply american feels instructive to me ... imo the film comes off as if it was made by an observer at a zoo, rather than someone w/ any particular sort of insight into what he is observing

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, April 8, 2026 11:03 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

on the euro tip, I think he tries to do something a bit mischievous that does work in an interesting way about the small-p politics of interracial relationships and friendships. haim’s character’s reaction to zendaya’s revelation is pretty eyebrow-raising to me, as is what’s shown of her relationship with her (black) husband. I do think how the film doesn’t make that dynamic overly didactic is a strength

I ultimately thought the movie had too many dumb moments and hated all the flashback scenes, but I did like jourdain searles’ review: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/the-drama-movie-review-zendaya-emma-character-explained

Did you mean Kathleen Newman-Bremang? Either way, a thoughtful piece.

yeah what the heck! maybe searles shared in on social media and I just assumed it was her when I read it a few days ago

no here it is: https://thefilmstage.com/the-drama-review-kristoffer-borglis-provocations-mask-greater-ignorance/

dunno why that first one came up when I googled her name. but it’s also good!

Saw this today. I won't use the hide function here, so read with that in mind if you plan on seeing it.

i really don't consider it a surprise or twist. it's a plot point.

We saw a different film. I don't know about being a surprise or twist--that's subjective--but it's not just another plot point: from that point forward, every scene and every word hinges on Zendaya's revelation. The whole rest of the film is about whether Pattinson will marry her knowing what he knows. It's there when he assaults his co-worker, it's there in Zendaya's dad's wedding speech, it's never not there. From what you wrote, I thought maybe it would veer off into a meditation of school bullying, but that's barely addressed (and what you do see is relatively minor compared to what some kids go through).

I was going to mention two or three things that struck me as wildly implausible--the film even doubles back and addresses one of them--but that probably just goes with the territory, so I'll skip that. I didn't dislike the film, and it held my attention. There was one inspired comedic touch: when they met with the wedding photographer. I thought Pattinson/Charlie's point about mass shootings--being so common, how many people must actually be contemplating them?--was interesting.

Nolan Strong's "The Wind," that's what I really got excited about. I knew it was coming (same blurb that tipped me off to the revelation), so the surprise was ruined, but it still sounded as amazing as ever. All credit to the director for using it. (I was straining to hear, but I'm almost positive a second Nolan Strong song was playing in the background when they meet up in the final scene--"Since You're Gone," even more other-worldly than "The Wind," I'd say--but I can't confirm that.) This did get me to thinking about...I won't say the old termite/white elephant distinction. Drama isn't, at least in the context of what makes it into theatres these days, a white elephant, its two big stars notwithstanding; it's not a superhero film. I'll call it instead the difference between art ("The Wind") and stuff (this film--which, again, I thought was okay). I want to think that thousands and thousand of people who see Drama will be mesmerized when "The Wind" turns up, think it's the most incredible thing they're heard in a long time. Highly doubtful--guessing it will hardly be noticed by most viewers. But even though the film will make a lot of money and generate lots of talk and attention for the next few months, I am convinced "The Wind," in some way, shape or form, be around long after the film is forgotten.

I loved seeing Pattinson smile again and I liked the first 20 minutes but this thing did not work.