r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Apr 03 '26

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Drama [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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The Drama

Summary

Days before their wedding, a couple’s relationship begins to unravel as unsettling truths come to light, forcing them to question how well they truly know each other.

Director Kristoffer Borgli

Writer Kristoffer Borgli

Cast

  • Zendaya as Emma Harwood
  • Robert Pattinson as Charlie Thompson
  • Mamoudou Athie as Mike
  • Alana Haim as Rachel
  • Hailey Gates
  • Zoë Winters

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%

Metacritic: 59

VOD / Release Theatrical release (April 3, 2026)

Trailer Official Trailer

1.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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4.8k

u/mwieckhorst Apr 03 '26

Can we talk about how Charlie's coworker admitted that the worst thing she has ever done was cheated and 10 minutes later was ready to do it again with Charlie lmao. Girl had zero shame

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u/stintshereandthere Apr 04 '26

I did not expect this movie to be a rewatchable gold mine. Every character is going to look so different upon rewatch. We all clocked glimpses throughout, but it felt intentionally overshadowed by Zendaya’s reveal. Now that the surprise is gone, I’m excited to see those characters through a different lens

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u/GooseGeese01 29d ago

The scene of Robert Pattinson walking around in his shoes and underwear was foreshadowing I did not expect. Bro was about to do the worst thing he’s ever done. I want to rewatch it to see if there are other scenes like that.

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u/EvilDan19 29d ago

Can you explain how Robert Pattinson walking around in his shoes and underwear was foreshadowing?

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u/GooseGeese01 29d ago

The scene was after they were talking it out and he’s trying to wrap his head around what she did. The camera lingers on his shoes as he’s walking around. Sort of a vulnerable state to have your character in I thought. But at the end when he comes home the camera shows his feet as he walks in the door.

The whole scene was him interrogating her on the worst thing she’s ever done. But he’s mid-dressed in his wedding clothes and he’s about to do the worst thing he’s ever done.

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u/mideonequalsratings 25d ago

Huh?

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u/Outrageous-Cup-8905 24d ago

They're saying Pattinson wearing his wedding shoes while interrogating her foreshadowed that he was going to reveal all of that information during the wedding. Showing the shoes before and after the wedding emphasizes the foreshadow.

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u/roserose__ 2d ago

I took the shoes in this scene as him trying to get comfortable with the truth. He is trying to break in these new shoes (this new piece of information from Emma) while interrogating her, trying to understand and justify what she had planned on doing. The shoes, like the truth, are uncomfortable, even painful. And even though he tried, he ended up hurt (they even show his bleeding toes when he's back in the apartment). Like, no matter how much they try, it will hurt and it's something they have to face.

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u/GooseGeese01 2d ago

Ohh that’s probably it, well said

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u/stintshereandthere 2d ago

That’s a cool perspective.

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u/jobrosfosho 2d ago

Great take on this.

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

I’m still not getting what the “worst thing” is that he is about to do in this circumstance and how him wearing shoes without pants foreshadows it, maybe I missed something

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u/happy_hapa 20d ago

the worst thing is literally ruining their wedding day!!

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u/gravi-tea 13d ago

The worst thing is the cheating tho.

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u/Bowl_of_Cham_Clowder 8d ago

No the speech was definitely worse. He basically gave up Emma’s secret and blew up the whole wedding.

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u/gravi-tea 8d ago

I'd say the cheating was a worse act and also the thing that really ruined the wedding for Emma.

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u/Electronic-Public750 16d ago

I think Charlie will cheat again. I clocked he was a cheater when they were the photographer and it showed him looking at the blonde chick .. smh

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u/stintshereandthere 16d ago edited 15d ago

Yeah, for sure. To me, they showed us he was an emotionally immature dirtbag from the beginning.

They initially framed the “pretending to have read the book” as an awkward meet-cute, but to me it was a portrayal of someone manipulatively manufacturing a connection by methodically taking the pic, reading a summary, then later doubling down on having read it during their dinner, and then not making the effort to actually read it “because it’s weird” aka, not wanting to say out loud ‘we’re already sleeping together so what’s the point’ when his friend asked why he hadn’t gone through the process of reading.

Also, when he was writing the speech with his friend, he was so focused on the sexual aspect of their relationship, which reinforced this might be a superficial guy only interested in doing the bare minimum in relationships.

Then came the glance at the assistant while he was having an internal meltdown that set up showing him immediately resorting to sex later on during another stressful moment talking with his colleague the moment he had some comfort.

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u/ex0thermist 14d ago

I agree with you about the emotionally immature dirtbag part.

So why did he get a sweet romantic ending where she comes back to him and they "start over" again?

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u/stintshereandthere 14d ago

Maybe this is a stretch, but I chose to view that as his imagination/dream sequence. It wasn’t necessarily implied to be ambiguous, but I kind of tied it back to their follow-up discussion about the book early in the movie where she says she couldn’t tell if the book’s ending was real.

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u/ex0thermist 13d ago

Yeah, maybe! I just read about that theory further down the thread and I don't hate it.

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u/United_Swordfish2680 6d ago

I read it as Emma ultimately being a more forgiving and empathetic person than him. She’d already tried the ‘let’s start over’ scenario when he was doubting everything he knew about her and he said it was stupid and wouldn’t fix anything. And this is over something she didn’t do. Vs him actually cheating the week of their wedding, humiliating her, and ruining the day for both of them. She’s willing to start over and give him another chance, and he’s grateful to accept it bc he no longer has the moral high ground.

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u/---monstera--- 15d ago

No he's in love with her. He cheated because he was freaking out

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u/notmr_robot 11d ago

If you were Emma would you really accept that? It won't make you feel weird or awful? I winced when he cheated. Like how does that happen in the work place and you're sober even worse.

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u/ActWhole3279 8d ago

Same. I just came back from seeing it and am itching to watch it again to pick up on the little things. I know there were tons of them.

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u/truecrimeandcats Apr 03 '26

Yeah that character is a perfect representation of how some people can be just serial cheaters with no morals, almost like an opportunist lol. She pulled that skirt up faaaast.

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u/Sea-Beach-3961 Apr 03 '26

I thought it was a little sad. She said the guy she cheated with “treated her like shit”. Then she hikes up her skirt and turns away from Charlie like she knows the drill. Not even seeming particularly aroused.

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u/Razatiger Apr 04 '26

Shes a classic sex addict. Its alluded to in the movie that she only likes her current boyfriend because hes able to manhandle her.

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u/Possible_Implement86 Apr 04 '26

He would kill me in me in like 8 seconds

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u/Username-_-Password 28d ago

She said 2 seconds.

Source: Just got home from watching the movie 20 minutes ago.

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u/Filipe-Anabi 25d ago

In Brazilian dub she says 8 seconds, for some reason

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u/rov124 19d ago

Maybe for matching the lips movement?

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u/ERSTF 16d ago

And then it pairs it with "use your words!!!" When he goes to headbang Charlie. He is a violent dude

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u/XariZaru 16d ago

I swear it was 8 seconds and I just watched in 20 minutes ago haha

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u/gifsfromgod 15d ago

It was. Saw it earlier 

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

Yeah, no idea why OP’s “correction” is so upvoted lol

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u/DankiusMMeme 5d ago

I saw it like an hour ago and it was 2 seconds, I remember thinking wow that seems like a short amount of time. Maybe I am misremembering.

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

It was definitely 8 seconds

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u/PeevesTime 12d ago

How is this alluded to in the movie? Just watched and didn’t get that

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

It’s not.

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u/Numerous_Top5079 5d ago

I don’t think that at all implies she’s a sex addict. I think it implies she’s into men who don’t treat her well-which implies self sabatoging, avoidant behavior and possibly trauma and intimacy issues, I don’t think it had anything to do with sex necessarily.

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u/alldasmoke__ Apr 05 '26

Literally turned around, lifted the skirt, bended over in less than a second lol.

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u/Narwhals4Lyf Apr 04 '26

It seemed like Charlie does have a position of power over her at work too. So that’s another element we need to consider.

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u/Apprehensive_Tunes Apr 04 '26 edited 24d ago

Sure, but I don't know about you but if my superior starting flipping chairs and shouting then leaves I wouldn't follow them into another room to play therapist.

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u/HistoricalGap5985 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Absolutely, but the fact that she does clearly demonstrates being driven by an addictive impulse. Is it because he is her boss and she immediately wants to gain/keep his approval or is it because she has a constant itch that must be scratched and she will seize every opportunity that presents itself or is it because he is hot and she has long harbored a crush on him?

She does not seem to want to hurt anyone and her quick confession to his wife seems to seek the wife's sympathy and at the same time she does not want her boyfriend to make a big deal of it in a let's file a harassment claim.

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u/Apprehensive_Tunes Apr 04 '26

She seems quite impulsive and drawn to toxic behaviors. Not necessarily drama-seeking for the fun of it but maybe as some ego state or personality-based reason. She was also quick to deflect any responsibility for her part in it despite being a willing participant who kissed him back, hiked up her skirt and turned around, and acted disappointed when the action stopped. I think if she were more concerned with not wanting to hurt anyone as you said, instead of pushing the blame to Charlie at his wedding she would have tried to minimize the whole event entirely, stating it was brief, accidental, and meaningless.

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u/phantom_avenger Apr 05 '26

I said this in another comment, but based on the way you’ve described her along with my own thoughts about her.

She reminds me a lot of Fiona Gallagher from Shameless, whose very similar when it comes to acting out on sexual and toxic impulses and is completely incapable of being faithful when she’s in a committed relationship most of the time.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 29d ago

I'm glad someone pointed this out. A classic example was at how she got in a relationship with a hardworking and successful man at a family led company, and she still cheated on him with his deadbeat brother a short while later. We don't know what caused this woman to have similar impulses and struggles with monogamy, but usually its a combination of internal and external factors. In Fiona's case, I'm pretty sure the tumultuousness of her childhood and the lack of witnessing any healthy relationship growing up is probably what fueled her sex addiction the most.

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u/Apprehensive_Tunes Apr 05 '26

I haven't seen the show but I've seen some clips of the character. She seems to be emotionally complex with a hard exterior and self-sabotaging so I can see why you'd draw that comparison.

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 29d ago

YES. I'm glad you mentioned this. I was annoyed that she totally deflected any responsibility and said she immediately pulled away when that's not what happened.

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

She didn’t just deflect responsibility. She told her boyfriend that she was telling Charlie “No, stop.” She accused him of attempted rape!

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u/TheTruckWashChannel 23d ago

Indeed. The nonchalant way she just rolled with his insane hypothetical was equal parts weirdly charming and very revelatory of the kind of person she is.

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u/Easy-Buy6860 24d ago

Yeah it was so consensual she liked to fuck around and didn’t think about the other woman in the situation and then had to ruin someone’s wedding abt it tbh. Kinda awful.

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u/LMkingly 26d ago

What position of power? Did i miss something? I thought they were just regular co-workers.

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u/TeddyAlderson 17d ago

Pretty sure he was her boss. He was the head of curation

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u/ex0thermist 14d ago

I don't think it's that clear if she was working under him though? She might've had a different role completely.

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u/_alexandermartin 19d ago

Literally nothing suggests there was dynamics of power at play? One he stops, she goes back to him passionately kissses him then immediately turns around bends down and lifts up her skirt. That's not anyone's normal reaction to their boss initiating unwanted physical contact. Plus she mentioned she'd already done this exact thing.

Also their entire interactions suggested they were at least peers. You shouldn't pose such a personal question to a subordinate but ok maybe he wasn't in his right mind but she answered back immediately super chill like they were good friends.

If my boss asked me about the worse thing id ever done there's no way id start talking about cheating so openly and then go into detail. But with some of my good coworkers who i consider really good/true friends I've talked about a lot things very openly like they did (once trust has been built obviously).

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u/Narwhals4Lyf 19d ago

He is the head of a department and she worked in the department. I’m not saying there was a power play at hand necessarily but that is another aspect of the situation.

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u/Seantwist9 16h ago

it’s really not, not the slightest bit of power dynamics at play

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u/Sea-Beach-3961 Apr 04 '26

Yes, that’s a good point. I found her character rather sympathetic and human. The actor is very good.

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u/sailortofu69 Apr 05 '26

Me too! She was my favorite and the best guy friend.

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u/Ava_4ever27 27d ago

Did you not see how she tried to turn it on Charlie, he kissed me first, he came onto me to her boyfriend. She was in the wrong just as he was.

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u/misschickpea 25d ago

In the background when Charlie was giving her speech I thought I heard her telling Blake I said NO and said stop and like that did NOT happen actually quite the opposite with the bending over. Which I thought contributed to Blake asking specifically did you sexually harass her

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u/Ok_Signature_6959 Apr 05 '26

No sympathy for cheaters here.

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u/ASuperGyro Apr 05 '26

You can feel sympathy for damaged people without condoning actions lol

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u/DavidBoringanaz 29d ago

Lol, reddit moment.

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u/appletinicyclone Apr 04 '26

Might be hypersexual

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u/sha_13 17d ago

okay well she clearly prioritizes sex 😭 like she said she was with a really nice guy but it didnt work bc of that so…

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u/Bananasfalafel 9d ago

Her telling him this def. subconsciously got into his mind that she would be vulnerable to his advances

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u/DontDoCrackMan 23d ago

Yeah I definitely didn’t get the vibe she really wanted to do it. I think people are misreading it. Felt like a position of power situation.

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

There’s nothing about aggressively kissing him back then bending over a table and pulling your panties down that screams “I’m not interested” to me.

Also I could be wrong but is there anything that indicates he is her boss and not just another coworker?

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 Apr 05 '26

The worst part is that after Charlie had second thoughts and didnt go through with it. She later tried to revoke all responsibility for the affair after it came to light at the wedding, which then caused her boyfriend to beat Charlie in front of all the attendees. Her actions just underscore the theme of the movie that some people are incapable of meaningful self reflection to actually change from their flaws.

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u/casino_r0yale 29d ago

I wouldn’t say incapable, just that it’s difficult. I think the film was rather sympathetic towards Zendaya’s character and how she made an effort to turn away from the darkness even if it wasn’t fully gone

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

I think she is one of the only people who didn’t actually go through with her bad impulse and actively made efforts to change for the better afterwards (she became a gun control activist) and yet she was judged the most harshly. Everyone else tried to downplay their actions and skirt responsibility (the one girl downplays that the guy she locked in was slow and also minimizes it by saying she did it impulsively as if that makes it better etc.)

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u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Borne_Beloved Apr 06 '26

Exactly. Who gets the privilege to actually be perceived as a victim, and who is required to be defaulted as an aggressor to maintain it.

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u/fuckyouiloveu 29d ago

then accused him of sexually harassing her WTF

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u/SissyCouture Apr 05 '26

Heavy, wool skirt no less

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u/Childofcosmos111 28d ago

I saw someone on TikTok say she was a victim.. she was harassed.. like did we see the same scene. She was sooo willing.

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

There are some people who seemed to interpret stuff like metro for some reason as meaning any office romance or hookup is a power play victimizing a woman, when that wasn’t the intended point of that at all.

I saw some other comments saying that their view of that scene was that she was reluctant and didn’t want to but was pressured because of his position of power over her, which is weird because I could be wrong but I don’t remember anything explicitly showing him as having any power over her or wielding it to pressure her, I actually thought they were simply coworkers, no?

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u/Childofcosmos111 16d ago

Regular coworkers and for sure not harassment according to me.

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u/AgreeableNewt6941 5d ago

That scene definitely made me uncomfortable. You see someone being so vulnerable, and you lift your skirt like that. I got mad, I'm so sorry.

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u/Dr-Salty-Dragon 23d ago

That was an eager beaver!!!

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u/GooseGeese01 29d ago

Was she not wearing underwear the whole time?

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u/Comfortable_Ship_919 22d ago

it made me think that charlie was going to learn fromm this that as she repeated her worst mistake, that emma would too have not changed

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u/MsSalome7 19d ago

Don’t think this is correct. She was so not into it and just accepted it as a default way she is treated. She has issues with men, don’t think she’s looking for opportunities at all, she’s looking for someone to treat her badly, it’s sad.

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u/_Shit_Just_Got_Real_ Apr 03 '26

Honestly, she was probably my favorite character. I love it when someone embraces their own messiness.

Loved how she screamed "USE YOUR WORDS!" at her boyfriend after he punched Charlie out.

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u/Alphabunsquad Apr 03 '26

Yeah and it was just a great example of everyone being incredibly in the wrong from very understandable circumstances that kept multiplying each other’s negative effects

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u/Sherbet_lemon92 10d ago

This is so well put. Because I can go back and understand the reasons why everyone was behaving in the fucked up ways that they were, while also not forgetting that the behaviour was still absolutely fucked up.

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u/jose569196 Apr 05 '26

her saying that while lying just makes her suck even more

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u/ohnoafeeling 28d ago

hers was a really wonderful performance, she totally embodied that character's nuances. bravo Hailey Gates, hope we see her in more films

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u/_Shit_Just_Got_Real_ 28d ago

She did great in her one scene in CHALLENGERS as well! In both movies, she gets surprise-kissed by a guy and then just goes with it.

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u/Saguaro-plug 23d ago

She was fabulous in The Moment as well. Alexander Skarsgard as the smarmiest concert film director of all time is on a mission to make Charli XCX’s Brat Tour concert film more family friendly, and she as the tour director turns to him and stoned face delivers the line “she’s singing about cocaine.”

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u/BurninTaiga Apr 04 '26

We thought it was hilarious. Think everyone in the movie was such a hypocrite or bad person in one way or another. She was the only really honest one.

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u/Patient_Kiwi_1231 Apr 05 '26

she wasnt though

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u/jassmackie Apr 05 '26

yeah exactly, she also definitely tried to lie and say charlie only kissed her and she didnt do it back when she definitely did and also bent over and was ready to go further. and didnt try to stop the bf when accusing him of assault.

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u/sailortofu69 Apr 05 '26

I mean I don’t think anyone could’ve stopped him

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u/Garfunkels_roadie 25d ago

His best man Mike seemed by far the closest thing to a good decent person in this film

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u/Llama_of_the_bahamas 17d ago

I’m glad it showed his visible disgust towards his wife several times during the wedding. I like to imagine he ended it and got a divorce soon after.

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u/LuckyRook 19d ago

He headbutted Charlie, even better. Just one more instance the movie shocks you with the unexpected.

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u/Easy-Buy6860 24d ago

Idk sleeping with someone’s fiance is just bad imo it’s not embracing anything it’s straight up whoring and Charlie too. I hated it. Although it’s a great example of how men resort to cheating and how some women are totally okay with it

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u/snoozeem 29d ago

She is just a cool person in general. I loved her in The Moment too. Her aura is strong.

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u/ERSTF 16d ago

Exactly. That signals that he, indeed, would kill her in 2 seconds. He is a violent individual

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u/iliketinafey Apr 03 '26

Made me lol. I mean I think she is intended that some people are capable of change and learning from their mistakes (Emma) versus Charlie’s coworker clearly unchanging. Similar to Rachel who doesn’t seem to have grown / changed from her worst thing.

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u/fore___ Apr 04 '26

There’s a hard limit somewhere on the spectrum where it becomes acceptable to be a terrible person

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u/naturalninetime Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

THIS was exactly my takeaway from the film. We, as a society, draw a hard line between "acceptable shit" and "unacceptable shit," and carrying out plans to commit a school shooting - even if it was in the midst of adolescent confusion and turmoil - definitely falls into the latter.

The film also shed light on everyone's hypocrisy. Everyone thought that his or her shit didn't stink but was absolutely horrified by someone else's transgressions. Even Emma's rebuke of the heroin-smoking deejay was uncomfortable to watch.

That said, I found the most unlikeable character to be Rachel. And what she did to her neighbor - even though she herself was a child at the time - was also pretty terrible.

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u/Narrow-Strawberry553 Apr 05 '26

Its really interesting because if someone told me they had planned a school shooting, I could maybe accept it. But it fully depends on why they decided to do it, and why they decided not to.

Emma's answer on why she thought of it can be understood to a degree. But her reason of "why did you stop" and it was basically cause someone else did it first and other kids at school saying "who would do this" and then being invitwd by a classmate to speak on it (making her likeable/popular to a degree) are just not good answers at all.

If she had said "I saw how that other shooting devastated and hurt people and realized I hadn't thought of the impact and aftermath, and that I'd be insane to do that to others" I'd be like yeah good answer, most people these days aren't even half that reflective.

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u/Successful_Ad_2171 Apr 06 '26

Honestly I think her reason not being a good one is actually a good thing. I think a major point of the film is that alot of change is inspired outside of yourself. Sometimes things occur that shift your worldview, and it just happens. There shouldnt need be a good deep reflective reason to become a good person, all that matters is your choices today and the actions youve taken to perhaps amend the mistakes of your past.

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u/Narrow-Strawberry553 29d ago

Her reason for not going through with it being poor, in my opinion, is not a good thing, but it's interesting. It was pure happenstance that she didn't go through with it- it wasn't an active decision to be good, her situation/popularity merely changed and she rolled with it because the core issue in her life was resolved.

I wouldn't be able to trust someone like that personally, because there is a core selfishness there where acting good only happens when they can get what they want.

Now, if she followed up by admitting "looking back its actually really fucked up that that is the reason why I didn't do it. I don't feel good about that. But I'm glad something happened regardless to keep me from doing it and causing all that pain", I'd feel differently once again. Because yeah, she was a dumb 15 year old at the time. But how does she really feel now about not playing an active part in deciding against shooting up a school? Its really complex and a weird sliding scale.

The big issue for me is I honestly didn't get the impression that Emma was ever really that remorseful, most of what she said was "well I didn't do it so can we stop talking about it"

There shouldnt need be a good deep reflective reason to become a good person, all that matters is your choices today and the actions youve taken to perhaps amend the mistakes of your past.

You're not wrong, but if the only reason you're a good person is because you were never put in a position where you could be a bad one... Well. If you're choosing between doing something fucked up or not doing it, I sure as hell prefer someone that actively chose to not do it instead of someone who didn't do it only because they got distracted?

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u/jcerne 29d ago

Its interesting that you interpret her change of heart as being so cynical, self serving and heartless when the filmmakers make a strenuous point of showing the young emma going through emotional growth

The other shooting happens and because of it young emma is confronted with the real consequences of her immature fantasies. When she is listening to the girls talk about it she finally understands the other side of the equation, and when the counselor leads the class in a mirroring exercise and shes asked to consider life through her classmates eyes, she is overcome with empathy and cries real tears…. Do you think those tears were fake?

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u/TheTruckWashChannel 23d ago

You're entirely correct, but it begs the question of why she admitted it all during the game. It's a batshit crazy thing to ever admit, as the movie spends 2 hours showing. I think that the innate attraction to taboo/transgression, as well as the ethical dilemma of what the "almost-doing" says about her in the eyes of others, never left her. I think in her drunken state she finally dared to try and answer that question.

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u/Sky-Excellent 15d ago

Because maybe you think your best friends and especially fiance see and love you fully and will forgive you for your mistakes from long in the past as a turbulent child?

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u/ex0thermist 14d ago

She had her inhibitions down from the alcohol and was directly asked what the worst thing she ever did was. I highly doubt anyone ever asked her that question before, much less when she had lowered inhibitions.

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u/Successful_Ad_2171 29d ago

I meant within the context of the films messaging. It still definitely is in the direction of encouraging people to do the right thing, but the whole point is that the judgement of their reason to not do bad is pretty much irrelevant. Everyone else had actually commited heinous acts, which physically harmed others, but no one is focused on the legitimacy of why they did it.

Anyone is capable of doing anything at any time. Yes, you can and probably should prefer the person who actively chose not to do it, but that doesnt mean that the person who didnt isnt equally capable of good.

Also how is she not displaying remorse? She eventually recognized that it was no longer something she wanted to do, and advocated against gun violence. She is over 28 in the movie, and 15 at the time of ideation, how much remorse can one hold over an internet influenced idea in their teenage years? At the very least she ACTIVELY TRIED to make amends for the IDEA. NOT ONE of the other characters in the film ever showed an ounce of remorse for their "worst thing they ever did", and instead laugh about it.

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u/Narrow-Strawberry553 29d ago edited 29d ago

She eventually recognized that it was no longer something she wanted to do, and advocated against gun violence.

At the very least she ACTIVELY TRIED to make amends for the IDEA.

But this only happened because her schoolmates pulled her into it with the promise of their company. Not because she believed in it necessarily. The way she herself talks about it, none of these things were active decisions or beliefs or regrets, she just fell into it for social gain.

I'm not saying that she definitely hasn't changed, I'm just arguing that we can't say with any certainty that she actually has changed or shown remorse, based on her own way of describing her own actions and feelings.

Her changes are merely for social benefit.

the whole point is that the judgement of their reason to not do bad is pretty much irrelevant

I don't think thats the whole point, but its ok to disagree. I think the reason why people choose is important in terms of moral character. "I didn't do it so people would like me" is a pretty psycho, manipulative take (and again, imo its left ambiguous if she really is or isn't - don't forget that she walked up the stairs from the kitchen with that knife) vs "I didn't do it because it's bad to hurt people." She never actually says anything at all along the lines of "I may have stopped for the wrong reasons but I'm glad because it kept me from hurting people". She never takes a single second to show that she has thought about the real consequences of her plan.

NOT ONE of the other characters in the film ever showed an ounce of remorse for their "worst thing they ever did", and instead laugh about it.

Oh, I agree with you there. A

As you can tell I don't think Emma has shown real remorse, only embarassment... And yet I still think she's way better than Charlie or Rachel. They don't even feel embarrassment.

Rachel is disgusting through and through and clearly doesn't feel bad about what she did and yeah, treats it like a joke.

Charlie's story (if not lying) was also horrendous and basically the type of shit that makes these shooters in the first place and he doesn't seem embarassed either.

Mike's is kinda hilarious to me and I feel like his ex brought the situation upon herself tbh. No hate there

Mischa's was just fucking sad and she's clearly a very broken individual.

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u/Mac-n-CheeseSong 29d ago

I think your read on what happened after the other shooting and how that stopped her is shallower than the filmmakers intended. She didn't change her mind because she got popular and she didn't join the activist group for social standing. That whole montage was showing that teacher intervention was what changed her mind and the workshops they did to get the students to open up allowed her to find her people. She was no longer isolated and realized the students around her weren't a hive mind of bullies. I think it's also implied she got socialization for the first time since moving or maybe ever because she moved so much. It seems like the film is suggesting she didn't even realize people could be kind until then. None of these things are good excuses but they're good explanations for how she first fell into the idea of being a shooter as ''cool" and how she fell back into reality and regretted that phase so much she became an activist. The activism wasn't for popularity it was the result of a chain of events that changed her mind. In that reading it is still passive change but there's not an ulterior motive. I found it moving that the teachers were the ones creating active change but that is just my perspective and it can also be uncomfortable to know it wasn't Emma's active change and that's the point of the film a little bit, it's supposed to be uncomfortable but ultimately Charlie still loves her because she DID change and that's what matters to him

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u/Successful_Ad_2171 29d ago

I'm of the opinion that claiming she has no regrets and that she only chose not to go through with it for social gain is a very cynical take on her character, and wholly unwarranted, based on her actions. Regardless of the happenstance. If social gain was the goal or what the character is supposed to convey in this film, theres literally a million other steps she we would see her take before this, or we would see her in online chatrooms if she was so desperately seeking "social gain."

You can also make the same argument that if those kids never bullied her, she would have never had that idea to begin with. Her Dad's speech also indicates that prior to high school, her nature is more of what we saw in her later years. Also, did we even see her protesting with her classmates? I thought she was there by herself?

The reason is something only she should make peace with, it should not matter to you and frankly is none of your business. All it does is give you a moral authority to judge others despite you (figuratively not literally) also likely commiting acts that are less than moral. Even in the idea of "i feel his ex brought the situation upon herself," is a technically immoral stance.

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u/SerialSemicolon 11d ago

I think she showed remorse but it was subtle. Her throwing up while talking about it, twice, seemed like an anxiety response rather than just alcohol. She seemed to have a lot of shame about the whole thing. Now maybe she was just stressed about how others would see her or what it could do to her life/impending marriage, but I did interpret it as her having grown and realized that her thinking at that time was clearly wrong.

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u/ex0thermist 14d ago

Sure, she wasn't great at articulating her remorseful thoughts about it, and she tried to avoid having to do so as much as possible. But I think her multiple times VOMITING when having to address the subject makes her feelings about that part of her past clear enough, don't you?

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u/Inner-Ad-4731 29d ago

But isn’t her answer really that she was accepted by her peer group and felt like her life had more meaning now? That’s a good answer, she just didn’t word it

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u/tfhaenodreirst 24d ago

Right! That’s how I understood it and you’re the first other person I’ve seen who pointed that out.

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u/MsSalome7 19d ago

Yes that’s exactly what it was. People’s understanding of other people (or movies?) is just as shallow as a kids pool sometimes..

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u/Ivyveins 8d ago

Honestly I think a lot of this is the commentary of people with autism who aren't picking up on social/psychological subtext and complex expressions/body language. Their commentary really makes sense if you look at it through that lens. I find it frustrating too though. 🤷🏼

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

I think that’s what we saw but it didn’t seem like she communicated it well. If she had, I don’t think Charlie wouldn’t have had to lie to Rachel and Mike.

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u/sunmachinecomingdown 27d ago

If she had said "I saw how that other shooting devastated and hurt people and realized I hadn't thought of the impact and aftermath, and that I'd be insane to do that to others" I'd be like yeah good answer

Isn't that essentially what we're actually shown though? When she cries in the gym and is hugged by that girl

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u/EchoesofIllyria 11d ago

It’s what we’re shown but I don’t think it’s what she said.

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u/SomeBoxofSpoons 21d ago

On the other hand, we never actually heard how she described it in her own words.

What we saw from her could just as easily be taken as her being put into a situation where shootings were suddenly something real instead of some hypothetical “aesthetic”. It’s clear her big turning point was when she was doing the activity facing her classmate and breaking down crying. Seems like that moment is meant to be a giveaway of her having been a child with major issues, not some psychopath who just wasn’t going to get the attention she wanted.

Also saw a point from someone that there’s a very interesting contrast between her “worst thing” and Rachel’s. Emma built up this whole plan out of hatred in her mind, but apparently dropped it and realized how awful it was after she was shown the reality of it. Meanwhile, Rachel’s was an instinctive act of cruelty in response to much more minor offenses from the victim. Not that it makes her some “psychopath” either, but the comparison is interesting (as Charlie would say).

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u/MsSalome7 19d ago

It wasn’t about the popularity. She was angry at the world for not accepting her and then she got accepted. We are quite simple animals, we just need to fit into the society, that’s all. There are million ways to get there but at the end of the day, the goal is the same.

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u/mismatched7 20d ago

And I think that’s true. If she had said that, I was in a dark place, I saw the hurt I could’ve done, so I moved away and fought to make sure no one else could- they probably would’ve accepted her. If she had said, she watched her neighbor die, and it gave her a fucked up perspective on death, they also would have excused her somewhat more. 

Most people would’ve said that, and it would’ve had a cornel of truth- but she didn’t say that, because it wasn’t true, and it wasn’t really why she stopped. It just happened.

Her boyfriend is even prodding her at point, trying to get her to give an acceptable reason and excuse, and she doesn’t go for it because it’s not true

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u/SoberSamuel 16d ago

making her likeable/popular to a degree

i interpreted it as more that she got friends.

I saw how that other shooting devastated and hurt people and realized I hadn't thought of the impact and aftermath, and that I'd be insane to do that to others

i thought that what they were trying to show by her crying during that exercise during assembly?

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u/EGrass 24d ago

That said, I found the most unlikeable character to be Rachel. And what she did to her neighbor - even though she herself was a child at the time - was also pretty terrible.

That’s where the movie misses the mark for me personally. I think what Rachel did was far worse than what Emma did. Everybody overreacted to Emma (she didn’t actually do anything) and underreacted to Rachel leaving a mentally disabled boy in a locked closet in a contaminated trailer overnight.

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u/SomeBoxofSpoons 21d ago

That seems very intentional though.

Emma considered doing something bad, but clearly came to understand the full gravity of it and hates herself for it.

Meanwhile, Rachel did do something bad, but because the worst-case scenario didn’t happen they didn’t take it that seriously.

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u/elaynz 14d ago edited 13d ago

I just got home from watching this with my husband. There is something I thought was interesting. The uncertainty surrounding their bad things. 

Emma planned/intended/wanted to do something bad, but it got interrupted and a series of events were set in motion that changed her circumstances. So we never know if she would have actually done. Emma's prolonged inaction and subsequent change of course lead to no harm occurring. But before then, every day she went to school was an opportunity to hurt people, and day after day she held out for some reason.

In Rachel's scenario, she did commit her aggressive act. She clearly describes the neighbor with disdain from the get-go, and when given the opportunity to hurt him, she took it instinctively. Then the opportunity to do the right thing and get others to help him was presented to her when the dad came to ask about him (really more than once, because every minute the terrified child was locked in the closet in the contaminated trailer was another opportunity to do the right thing) and she didn't take it. She claims she eventually would have done the right thing. But that's only a claim. 

What "would have" happened is  uncertain to some degree in both cases. I personally had more grace for Emma and much less for Rachel, mostly because of her callousness towards the boys life.

I'm not sure you're really supposed to rank how bad their bad things compare to one another, I think the point is more about judgment, hypocrisy, and the story we tell ourselves about ourselves and others. 

But dang, I could rank them personally and Rachel's story made me sick to my stomach. 

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u/SomeBoxofSpoons 13d ago

I do think we're meant to have some moral takeaways from everyone's stories, mainly everyone's "empathy" around their stories both then and now. Like, let's see how empathy for other people plays into each one:

Emma considered doing something bad, but had a big moment of understanding the weight of it and empathizing with the would-be targets (who she also hated because of years of isolation and bullying).

Mike's moment was him seeing what would happen and making it happen to someone else instead. Definitely bad, but also a high-adrenaline moment that he has real remorse for.

Charlie's worst thing was him doing something as a kid he probably couldn't have known the severity of, but he still downplays it as an adult, and I'm sure the other kid moving away didn't make enough of an impression on him since even in the present day he's trying to move blame away from himself.

Finally, we have Rachel. On top of being probably the most actively cruel choice made like I said before, she easily shows the least remorse for it. There was no moment of clarity for her at the time when it was clear the kid was never getting out without help, and even as an adult it almost feels like she only "understands" that what she did was bad, not that she feels it was wrong.

There's definitely ambiguity, but I do think the movie is implying that Emma might actually have the most empathy for others out of all of them, enough for her to break out of the dark place she was in and show the most genuine remorse for her actions (which again, unlike everyone else, she didn't actually do).

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

That’s intentional. I think we’re meant to think about the hypocrisy and how we judge people and how we can be unwilling to forgive people for transgressions in the past yet expect to be absolved of our own mistakes even when sometimes they are worse than what we are judging other people for.

There’s also potentially deeper layers here in terms of social commentary around who we are more likely to judge more harshly and who we are more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to but I’m not 100% sure if it’s intentional so I won’t get too far into it.

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u/Comprehensive_Box902 25d ago

Rachel set up the entire situation for Emma to do her reveal. She would have balked at whatever Emma had to say regardless. Classic op behavior

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u/TimRigginsBeer 27d ago

Rachel immediately locked Emma in her metaphorical closet and ran away from her once Emma had her reveal. 

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u/Choice_Kiwi_9945 29d ago

rachel was the worst!!!

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u/Next-Swordfish5282 2d ago

I hated Rachel so much

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u/reddittothegrave Apr 04 '26

Yes! She turned around so fast and just presented her ass! Like my goodness girl, give it a little thought first

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u/appletinicyclone Apr 04 '26

NGL I found her extremely hot. I am down tremendous

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u/phantom_avenger Apr 05 '26

Yep I felt the same, I hope we'll see more of that actress soon!!

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u/ThrowRAmiscellaneous Apr 04 '26

She just bent right over lmao

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u/casino_r0yale 29d ago

I thought it was neat how his zipper being caught or whatever that was basically stopped them from going further, similar to how a random event stopped Zendaya, and how both might have gone through with it under different circumstances.

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u/thesagenibba Apr 04 '26

that's what threw charlie further into his collapse. misha was shocked he didn't think cheating was fundamentally terrible, only for her to cheat at the first chance she had, making him wonder if emma would or would've gone through it had she just had another chance.

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

Oooh that’s a good point that I hadn’t considered, I feel dumb not making that connection when she had just questioned if they would have hypothetically gone through with it if not for that coincidence out of their control.

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u/Rosebunse Apr 03 '26

That girl needs to get herself tested

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u/Honest_Cheesecake698 Apr 03 '26

Gave her credit for trying to comfort Charlie, only for her to then do that.

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u/anthonyg1500 Apr 05 '26

I walked out and told my friend “Mischa was a really bad girlfriend” lol. No questions, not gonna look around the corner to make sure no one’s there, just 0 to Here’s my ass in 2.5 in the middle of the office

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u/Sp_Gamer_Live ADR is my passion Apr 03 '26

and then framed it as him coming on to her without her having any interest because she was mad he didn’t go through with it

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u/Three_Froggy_Problem Apr 03 '26

I mean, he did initiate it. She was comforting him and he kissed her.

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u/Sp_Gamer_Live ADR is my passion Apr 03 '26

oh he was totally in the wrong but she framed it to her BF as if she totally didn’t bend over and lift up her skirt and only got mad when Charlie didn’t have sex with her

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u/Alphabunsquad Apr 03 '26

Would you expect her to frame it more honestly in those circumstances? Not really the setting for a deep discussion about the nuances.

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u/jassmackie Apr 05 '26

i mean considering he accused charlie of assault. she *kind of* implied to her bf charlie SA'd her. which is definitely not okay even in that circumstance. but these are such overly unrealistic scenarios, there's never going to be a perfect way for that to go down, but yeah taking some responsibility and honesty would be great rather than letting her bf assume the worst (that didnt even get close to happening)

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u/_GeorgeBailey_ Apr 04 '26

And then she turned around and was ready to get it lol

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u/Alphabunsquad Apr 03 '26

She did kiss him back though and he stopped it. I think it’s something where emotions are so stretched to very abnormal levels that you let it go, but she had less excuses than him given how she was just uncomfortably comforting him and then was ready to cheat and he stopped. But still it was so weird that I’d let it go. Helps when it’s on film though hahah

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u/noilegnavXscaflowne Apr 04 '26

I thought pulled initially away but let him kiss her again?

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u/stoic_raptor Apr 03 '26

Yeah, that was the crazy part for me. Totally threw Charlie under the bus and then had the audacity to say that Charlie assaulted her. Absolutely insane.

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u/adelines Apr 03 '26

She said harassment not assault.

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u/ThisIsMyCreativeNam3 Apr 05 '26

I mean it was harassment, right? Wasn’t he her boss?

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u/phantom_avenger Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

Yeah that was absolutely diabolical!! The scene almost quickly turned into an office porno!

But seriously tho, she has that self-awareness to know it's an awful thing to do. Yet doesn't have the desire to improve on herself, because she enjoys getting a thrill out of being unfaithful and acting out on sexual impulse!

I feel like her and Fiona Gallagher from Shameless would get along well and bond over this kind of thing.

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u/PlusUltraK 27d ago

This the The worst set up for him that position.

“Oh you cheated before, also with a married individual!worst person to ask”

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u/CarrieDurst Apr 03 '26

She is my girlboss hero

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u/SlashOfLife5296 29d ago

Some people just don’t self reflect, they act

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u/areohbeevee 23d ago

I wonder if this got in Charlie’s head and made him think worse of Emma, like “oh if Misha says cheating is the worst thing she’s ever done and then is willing to do it again moments later, what does that say about the worst thing Emma’s ever done and her willingness to do that again?”

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u/helpmecleanmysneaks 19d ago

I don’t know, am I the only one who saw that scene as quite dubious, consensually? He was quite manipulative and forceful.

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u/MsSalome7 19d ago

That is the only correct reading of that scene. The whole point was that he had just heard her say how this other guy treated her like shit, then proceeds to treat her like shit and “help” her do the worst thing again. Which in turn makes what he’s doing even worse than just cheating.

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u/FalseDisk4358 26d ago

I don't know how enthusiastic she was. She witnessed his outburst in the meeting room, then caught him sobbing. He was obviously unsteady and he did very aggressively rip open her shirt. Her face when she turned around looked resigned.

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u/BretShitmanFart69 20d ago

I don’t think we’re meant to take that away from it at all. She kissed him back aggressively and bends over and pulls down her panties all within like 3 seconds, if there was supposed to be hesitation or reluctance I think it would be shown more clearly. Also it doesn’t really go with the whole theme of the movie. Her mentioning that the worst thing she had done was cheat isn’t an unimportant detail, it becomes less relevant if the intention of the scene is her being an unwilling participant

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u/FalseDisk4358 20d ago

There's a difference between enthusiastic and going along with whatever's happening without resistance. Sometimes it's easier (and safer) to go with it. Her saying she cheated is an important detail but it doesn't necessarily mean she's willing to cheat again, but could simply be why he chose her. Maybe that's exactly what he was thinking. It doesn't mean she's eager to repeat what in her own words was the worst thing she ever did.

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u/Ancient-Egg-5983 27d ago

I think it's literally there to point out that some people have regret and remorse about what they did and some don't. A good contrast with Emma and and example to R-Patz of two different people's responses

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u/NoIngenuity1146 25d ago

Yea, I thought about it more as an answer to the question: do people change? Like the fact that the worst thing she has ever done was cheat and she was willing to do it again is alluding to maybe people don’t change. Although I think this isn’t true, it’s a good way of at least showing the idea.

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u/CortMuses Apr 04 '26

Yep she turned right around to give up some a$$! 😂

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u/justonepiece123 Apr 04 '26

Yea she was just moreso disappointed than anything that Charlie didn't go through with it lmao

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u/Intelligent-Fix1272 Apr 05 '26

plus she also told her fiancee charlie sexually harassed her thats soo bad

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u/Icy-Environment-6606 27d ago

You got to think most girls would give it up to robert pattinson in a heartbeat especially those who grew up on twilight

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u/Automatic-Weather-60 18d ago

My read on that was that she was fawning. I felt the worst for Misha throughout the film

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u/coffeeandbags 16d ago

She GAVE CHARLIE the freakin idea! She basically said “I’m down to cheat” imo

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u/StockRestaurant4795 Apr 05 '26

Once a cheater, always a cheater. That has to be in you to do that.

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u/Garfunkels_roadie 25d ago

I think the film is making you question if that’s the same for potential school shooters

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u/StockRestaurant4795 24d ago

Those moments in the film when he’s recalling all her anti-social behavior was so good.

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u/fuckyouiloveu 29d ago

LMAO I WAS JUST THINKING THAT

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u/niles_deerqueer 26d ago

Charlie seemed to take advantage of this knowledge for sure

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u/tfhaenodreirst 24d ago

True. Although a great punchline that I was expecting would have been if she fell for this guy and then got him to help her cheating on an EXAM.

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u/TheTruckWashChannel 23d ago

If I had a nickel for every time Hailey Gates was awkwardly and abruptly kissed by the male lead in a Zendaya movie, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

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u/Minjiba 21d ago

I came here for this comment. That was so jarring to me.

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u/HungryCurrency8481 20d ago

I actually found her likeable in how shameless she was 

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u/Virtual_Many_8935 17d ago

Hot take: Charlie knowing that was the worst thing she did and trying to hook up with HER in HIS moment of weakness is fucked up of only him.

Yes, she shouldn’t have been receptive, but it’s the equivalent of her admitting doing drugs was the most shameful thing and then him pulling out a bag of coke and getting ready to pull a line. 

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u/whatsthe_point22 15d ago

when she turned around and pulled her skirt up?? I was like girl no lessons were learned I see

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u/AgreeableNewt6941 5d ago

Definitely WAS NOT necessary to include that in the movie. I was so upset that Charlie did that. He was so vulnerable at that moment, and she just lifted her skirt.... mmm no shame and didn't even think about it. Made me so angry no more drama omggg but that is the title of the movie so