'The Drama' Is a Jagged, Singular Spin on Modern Romance
It's exceedingly rare that a dark comedy fulfills that term - usually they're insufficiently funny, and "dark" too often means simply melodramatic. The Drama is not only textbook dark comedy (more accurately, a jet-black comedy), it's an incisive modern rom-com which at long last does something new with the genre. (The following contains minor spoilers for The Drama.)
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are, respectively, Emma and Charlie, two Boston yuppies who are days away from their nuptials. One night, finalizing the reception's menu alongside their two partnered friends (Alana Haim and Mamadou Athie) and too many glasses of wine, a game commences in which each person names the most heinous thing they've ever done. It's all in good fun, until Emma reveals something genuinely horrific that repels not only her closest friends but leaves Charlie wondering if he's making an error in marrying her: she planned, and very nearly carried out, a school shooting.
What transpires is a screwball comedy of human error that falls somewhere between an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure, that harrowing tale of a healthy marriage undone by a moment of cowardice. The Drama is directed by Kristoffer Borgli, who previously made the Danish social satire/body horror pic Sick of Myself (2022) and the Nicolas Cage existential nightmare (in all ways) Dream Scenario (2023). Both of those movies had their moments, but they never took flight as full-fledged visions. The Drama feels like a natural evolution of Borgli's style, but it's the first movie of his which feels fully formed and utterly singular.
The criticism that The Drama has garnered on the way to rather stunning financial success ($128m worldwide against a budget of just over $20m) is unsurprising but ill-conceived. Most of it seems predicated on a knee-jerk reaction to the twist's reveal, rather than on the film that follows. Norwegian native Borgli has crafted a satire of American culture that only an outsider could properly helm, one that reveals the uncomfortable truths and nuanced avenues of an issue that is terrifyingly common only in the United States.
Not for a moment does the movie empathize with Emma's decisions as a troubled 15-year-old, though it empathizes with the character of Emma herself. As with so many modern (largely online) debates, the one surrounding The Drama seems incapable of grasping nuance, that two truths can be held at once. The fantastical pursuit of a massacre brings her no respite: she deafens herself in one ear while practicing shooting in the woods; and, in the film's deftest comedic beat, cannot record her dramatic manifesto because her computer's storage is full. Only once she abandons the idea of revenge against those who push her in the hallway and deride her looks does she develop a true personality: she falls for a cute, pro-gun-control boy and joins him at rallies, eventually destroying her coveted rifle. Perhaps what rankled viewers most is Borgli's insistence on posing uncomfortable questions and then, unlike many similar movies, actually forcing us to answer them. Haven't we all nursed fantasies against perceived wrongs? Perhaps not bloodthirsty fantasies like Emma's, but the notion is relatable.
More than a satire of gun violence or control, the movie uses that jumping off point to craft a viciously jagged (both physically and in spirit) satire of modern dating. What is exceptionally smart about The Drama is how it subverts both expectations of the genre in which it's working and the culture that it's lampooning. Charlie and Emma's relationship kicks off on a misleading note when he surreptitiously googles the book she's reading to impress her on their first date. Her subsequent lie, about having lost her hearing at birth, reads less as revisionist history than meeting Charlie at his own game.
Without dating itself - there is no mention of social media, and aside from one dextrous comedic use of Uber, there's little sight of cell phones - The Drama manages to craft a potent allegory about dating in the digital age. We're all misrepresenting ourselves to fit the ideal vision of ourselves in the eyes of our partner, whatever that is, especially in that liminal space before the relationship becomes serious and we realize we have to live with these misrepresentations or confess. It's both modern and timeless, classical and subversive, a combination driven home in the excellent final scene. Bloodied and bruised in their wedding formals, Charlie and Emma agree to finally become acquainted with each other and themselves. They're the Harry and Sally of our generation.
The Drama is available to rent/buy on major platforms.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 11:04 AM.