Olivia Russo
Editor-in-chief
“The Drama” was released in theaters last Friday.
I had been eagerly anticipating this film since the stars – Zendaya and Robert Pattinson – were seen filming in the streets of Boston in late 2024.
My anticipation paid off as I not only enjoyed the movie but felt as though I could not truly anticipate the plot despite what TMZ decided to spoil the week before.
The film is refreshing and unique, it is not based on a book or a remake of another movie made twenty years ago. It is a new plot line and something that requires an in-depth analysis and attentive watcher. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film features main characters Emma Harwood – played by Zendaya – and Charlie Thomspon – played by Pattinson – in the week leading up to their wedding.
Their plans derail after a dinner conversation with their friends Rachel, played by Alaina Haim and Mike, played by Mamoudou Athie. Rachel and Mike serve as the maid of honor and best man for the wedding, and share that before their wedding they revealed the worst thing they have ever done, cementing their relationship. Tentative at first, the table agrees and takes turns sharing their horror stories between laughs and many glasses of wine. Emma is the last to go, where she reveals that she had thought about organizing a school shooting at her high school.
The conversation quickly turned to screaming, as Rachel could not believe that someone would be that evil, revealing that her cousin is paralyzed due to a mass shooting.
Charlie and Emma, for the rest of the week leading up to their wedding, navigate the state of their relationship. Their bond seems entirely up in the air, as the only thing they are able to talk to each other about is her upbringing and what would lead her to have those thoughts.
While a sensitive and sore subject for America right now, just based on the synopsis, viewers may think that it is not handled with enough brevity or time. However, I would disagree. “The Drama” forces its audience to think critically about what makes someone a bad person and if the person you once were is the person you remain to be.
After an uncomfortable talk with Charlie the day after the dinner, Emma shares that she was bullied a lot at school and liked the aesthetics of school shooters. However, she never went through with the plan because a shooting happened at a local mall. In fact, she ended up advocating against gun violence.
While thinking about it and going through with it as much as Emma did as a teen is not as excusable as other petty things teenagers tend to do, it is never met with the same grace that any of the other characters need to. Emma is immediately made to repent for her sin, while the other three at the table never have to confront the problematic behavior they indulged moments prior.
This becomes the question the movie serves to answer: Is the thought of doing something unspeakable worse than doing something wrong? While Emma became influenced by the culture that America is now so deeply ingrained with, she never actually did what she thought about. She thought about it extensively, sure, but she never did it. The three other characters however, actually did their worst thing and got the luxury to laugh about it rather than apologizing and regretting it. The thoughts may not be good, but Emma never tries to sugarcoat what she did, she knows it’s wrong, and the other characters don’t have the same remorse.
Lately, film conversations online have centered around the idea of what character is morally good and what character is morally bad. As if there is no chance for nuance. Every main character in the movie is a morally grey person, they all have their faults, but they are not bad people. Of course, overall, I would personally argue that Rachel is a bad person given her actions after the dinner.
“The Drama” does not ask for its audience to take a side, it simply presents four people and their terrible actions toward each other. However the audience decides to react is their prerogative and reflects how they feel, but it does not make them a bad person.
Olivia Russo can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
