Tremble…Sigh…Wonder…

By James Kenney

The Drama (written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli) is the latest rather successful incarnation of “The cinema of cringe” a la Marty Supreme, 21 Grams, Little Children, et al, where it seems more an endurance test than a movie sometimes” – how far can it go to make you avert your eyes? This one is different because it’s basically an offbeat romantic dramedy, with a cute, compelling lead in Zendaya, playing Emma, a late-bloomer encountering her first real love with Charlie (Robert Pattinson) at 30. She holds a secret that disturbs everyone around her when they learn it playing a game of “what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” (which based on the film, is not a game to play, ever).

The Drama is more interesting than some have posited, in that Emma has never actually acted upon the horrid secret she holds, whereas everyone else in the film actually did their shitty things and then generally act shitty towards her for the entire film, without ever becoming self-aware. I mean, from the film’s evidence, Emily has never done anything bad, ever, save thinking disturbing thoughts at one point that could’ve led to catastrophic results.  She’s treated horribly for the remainder of the film’s running time, and as she’s by far the most likeable character in the film, it’s hard to gauge if this was Borgli’s intent, or whether he feels there is valid concern from the others for what she once imagined a possibility.

Either way its quite compelling, and interestingly filmed, for the first three quarters of the running time, anyway. Pattinson is pretty good, although he’s going heavy on the Hugh Grant affectations, which worked for my daughter, who hasn’t seen any of Grant’s 90’s hemming-hawwing romantic comedies. But I wasn’t fooled! Alana Haim is really off-putting as Emma’s maid of honor Rachel (by design, I think, the performance is fine). Rachel really holds Emma in harsh judgement for her revealed secret, despite Rachel being consistently presented as a genuinely toxic presence that everyone, including her tolerant-of-all husband Mike (Mamoudou Athie), should have abandoned long ago.

Zendaya is the best thing about the film, an unaffected, natural performer who knows how to use her body for comic and sensual effect and isn’t afraid of looking silly or apoplectic, maybe even feral, when a moment requires it. We can see what Charlie falls for her instantly, but it’s a little harder to see what Emma sees in him by the end of the film, as in the final third The Drama loses its footing a bit.

For a long time, the film seems to be exploring uncomfortable moments and truths with wit and bite, but by the time we’ve reached the climactic wedding it fairly abruptly turns into a Blake Edwards farce with much more uncertain, hesitant staging. Characters (especially Charlie’s) start doing things that feel not particularly organic but more of a plot requirement, and it’s unclear why the empathetic Emma really goes after the DJ they’ve hired for a wedding because they saw her possibly doing heroin on the street one night. The DJ is on time, looks together, and acts professionally, and it just seems she has to be fired (in a scene that Sydney Lemmon steals as Pauline the DJ, largely because Emma and Charlie aren’t given anything convincing to do) simply to set up a joke involving a new DJ at the wedding (which does land, for what it’s worth).

Also, it’s unclear why Rachel is still the Maid of Honor long after her unbridled hostility towards Emma is thoroughly catalogued in many scenes preceding her unpleasant speech at the wedding. I mean, I’ve only been married once, but you aren’t required to follow through on anything you don’t want to happen, yes? They could’ve just skipped the maid of honor speech, who would notice/care? The last half an hour piles contrivance upon contrivance and unfortunately sidelines Emma for all sorts of plot machinations and misunderstandings involving Charlie. Once we’re thoroughly frustrated with him, the film relies on her slight-but-mighty shoulders to clean up the mess in a final scene that plays much more crappy Sandra-Bullock-rom-com than as a resolution to a bracingly provocative film.

But, but. The first three quarters are wholly involving — sharp, funny, and genuinely alive — with Borgli finding real wit in the discomfort, a game cast doing excellent work, and a camera that generally seems to be in the right place .But it doesn’t “stick the landing,” with the Drama giving itself over to some forced shenanigans and Three’s Company-level overheard misunderstandings.

Still, it’s the closest thing to a real movie we have in wide release this month. And whatever its third-act failings, The Drama gives us Zendaya — who, like most stars of her generation, has built her name on tentpoles (the Spider-Man and Dune franchises), but here proves herself something rarer: a genuine screen presence, impossible to look away from. And I don’t mean that as a comment on her  (certainly pleasing) looks. I mean her choices are utterly compelling, the way only real actors’ choices are. That makes The Drama worth the cringe.

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