Note: Major spoilers ahead for “The Drama”
“The Drama” is in theaters now and already fueling plenty of discourse online. But you might be a bit confused by the title, considering how trailers for it largely lean into the rom-com elements of the film. So, what exactly is the drama in “The Drama?”
Starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the film centers on Emma and Charlie, a couple about to get married. They seem like the perfect couple, completely enamored with each other — and they are! That is, until one night while out with their friends Mike and Rachel for a last-minute wedding tasting.
While sipping on wine options, Emma and Charlie’s best man and maid of honor reveal that, before they got married themselves, they played a game. The game itself was simple; they simply confessed to each other what the worst thing they ever did was.
In the case of Mike, he used an ex-girlfriend as a human shield when attacked by a stray dog. Rachel, on the other hand, was a bit worse, revealing that she locked a neighbor with special needs in a closet in the forest. She left him in there so long that a literal search party was sent to find him.
With that, Emma and Charlie must confess theirs. And here is your final spoiler warning. If you want to go into “The Drama” completely pure, turn away now.
What’s the twist?
It turns out, the worst thing Emma’s ever done was plan and very nearly execute a school shooting. Yes, seriously. She had her father’s rifle, had practiced with it in the woods — in fact, that practice is why she’s deaf in one ear, which is a major component to the story — and even filmed a farewell video for after she was caught and/or killed.
Emma’s friends and fiancé immediately think she’s making some sort of horrendous joke, but upon realizing she’s serious, they all begin to panic and, in Rachel’s case, become venomous.
For the rest of the film, we follow Charlie as he tries not to have a complete meltdown from the revelation, and attempts to understand his future wife’s mind. Among the first questions he asks is what stopped her from carrying out her plan. Alas, her answer only makes it worse.
What stopped her was simply that another shooting occurred at a mall nearby first, killing one of her classmates. In short, someone did it first.
But the other key piece of her plan falling through was that, in the aftermath of the shooting, she found friendship with her mourning classmates. They elected her to be the speaker for the anti-gun violence movement they formed. In an ironic twist, she seemingly became a huge advocate against guns, drawing attention from press and beyond.
And so Charlie is left to wonder: does he still love the woman he thought he knew everything about? Is she a literal psychopath, who has manipulated everyone around her for her whole life?
Therein, lies the drama.
“The Drama” is now in theaters everywhere.
