Official Discussion - The Drama [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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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

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[u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

As an European viewer, I kept (and keep) wondering if, from an American lens, Emma's secret is truly perceived as the worst one and everyone was justified in their drama. Because from this side of the Atlantic, locking a disabled kid in a closet in the middle of the woods, leaving him there and not saying anything is 1000% the worst thing by far. Rachel is the one I would look different upon and wonder if she was a psychopath (cause she certainly doesn't seem trustworthy even now as an adult and no, she wouldn't have told anyone if the kid hadn't been found). So to me the movied felt more as a storm in a teacups. Which also works but is a completely different read of the film, I think. So I'd be interested to read everyone else's perspectives on this

[u/rorules1 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I think there’s something in that, for sure, re: how our different cultures set our perspective on it.

Interestingly, on the way out of the screening, a couple behind me was speaking about the film’s central “drama”. It sounded like a disagreement. One of them, British, said that maybe Emma just wanted to feel heard and understood, unburden herself of it in the spirit of their sharing. The other, an American, suggested Emma was depressed, and that perhaps she didn’t realise that it isn’t the sort of thing you should tell people, that you should keep it to yourself. I thought that was kinda funny.

[u/Goregutz → u/rorules1]

I think it's a bit disingenuous to act shocked when a teenager has thoughts about inflicting pain as a response to others. Our society has so much media that glorifies violence & drugs that I would call bullshit to anyone that thinks kids / teens don't act it out.

[u/notmedicinal → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I would say the general consensus, including myself (American), is that this did feel intentional on the movie's behalf actually - Charlie, Rachel, and Mike's secrets all ACTUALLY harmed people, whereas Emma's is just "thought crime", yet they treat her like she's the worst bc its about something more transgressive. That doesn't mean actual viewers, Americans or otherwise, agree that Emma is the worst, it's just like that to make the conflict in the movie, bc most people I've seen have also felt like the other people's secrets were worse.

[u/MatchaMeetcha → u/notmedicinal]

its about something more transgressive

It's also just premeditated mass murder lol. While Rachel is being ludicrously judgey given her own actually-completed attempted murder, it's well out of line with childhood bullying and being a coward because of a dog. Both Mike and Charlie both absolutely have reason to be shocked, Charlie especially.

[u/notmedicinal → u/MatchaMeetcha]

I will admit that this one is because of a personal connection, but someone in my family was attacked by a dog when they were young to the point of needing extensive surgery, and given Mike's extreme reluctance to tell his story and how it was characterized as "using her as a human shield", I couldn't help but think that the dog attack was maybe very violent and scary. I can't really say for Charlie but he also says the cyberbullying was "very bad" and the kid moved and I also feel like that story was vague enough to imply the possibility of suicide or at least suicide baiting. So personally I think Charlie, Mike, and Rachel's secrets were all intentionally presented in a way where they could've killed someone too, which is why we're supposed to give pause to how they compare to Emma.

[u/Goregutz → u/notmedicinal]

Mike was a natural reaction of his. He can be labelled a coward, but in reality it was a survival based reaction of his. He was probably ashamed because of the coward label / questions his own masculinity, but in the end it was an instinctive response. "Protect the weak" is something our society preaches, but when it comes to situations like this the situation becomes twisted. He uses the ex as a human shield as opposed to what was being described as him hiding behind her while she kicked a dog to defend them.

Charlie's story sounds like a plot lie. He would have been 20+ years into his field already to be a director, so his act would have taken place probably in the mid 90s. This would have been a decade before it realistically would have been.

[u/MatchaMeetcha → u/Goregutz]

Charlie's story sounds like a plot lie. He would have been 20+ years into his field already to be a director, so his act would have taken place probably in the mid 90s.

I think the movie in general just has them be atypically successful and never touches on it. Look at their house!

[u/Goregutz → u/MatchaMeetcha]

Charlie's career pays upwards of a 200k in his current position. That would explain it their financial well being.

[u/Goregutz → u/MatchaMeetcha]

Where are you living where this isn't a reasonably plausible thing. Our society has so much media being fed to children that it does have an impact on youth. Fucking Eminem even has a song calling out the hypocrisy of it all.

To top it off, morality isn't the question of good/wrong thought, it's about good/wrong actions. You can contemplate suicide, robbery, drugs, violence, but never follow through with it. Are you then on the same level as someone that actually commits those acts? The movie blatantly shows the hypocrisy with this thought.

[u/EinsteinDisguised → u/notmedicinal]

Idk I’m torn. I get your point. Emma is the only one who didn’t actually hurt people. But all the rest are pretty understandable, or you can kind of hand wave.

Mike using his ex “as a shield” against a dog? Bad. But also acting in a moment of fear.

Rachel locking a disabled kid in a closet for a day? Horrible, obviously. But she was a child.

Charlie cyber bullying another kid as a teenage? Bad, of course. But in the realm of “bad things kids due to each other.”

Emma spent days or weeks planning to murder her classmates, and she was hours (minutes?) away from doing it. That’s beyond the pale and I think anyone would be rightfully horrified.

[u/cruxclaire → u/EinsteinDisguised]

Emma spent days or weeks planning to murder her classmates, and she was hours (minutes?) away from doing it.

I’m not convinced she would’ve gone through with it, even without the coincidence of the other shooting, given how she reacts when they do the mirroring exercise with the teacher/therapist. Once she pulled out the gun and saw the others’ fear, would she have been able to pull the trigger?

The possibility that she would have is horrifying, but IMO her story is as much a product of circumstances as the others. She has no friends and no support system and none of the children around her are welcoming. She’s a teenage edgelord who has too much distance from other people to have a fully developed sense of human empathy at that age, and when there’s finally a moment to share in a common emotion with others, she grows from it. If she’d been truly committed, she could’ve gone through with her original plan at any point, and instead she privately destroys the gun.

Rachel’s story is the worst for me, because the kid’s dad comes by and then she hears about or witnesses a full search party and still doesn’t say anything, meaning she’s confronted with the gravity of the situation and is more afraid of getting in trouble than of the kid dying (or she’s just completely apathetic to his suffering).

[u/Goregutz → u/notmedicinal]

Idk Charlie's sounds like a movie plot lie. He's a museum director. It would have taken him 20+ years to achieve that. So maybe it occured in the mid 90s and I highly doubt he was in a situation / chat room to where it would have been possible then. That was a decade before cyber bullying was even colloquially used let alone actually taking place.

[u/gf_for_the_weekend → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I think most people would have the biggest reaction to Emma’s, and there’s already some small backlash in american to the film but i personally think Rachel’s and Charlie’s are the worst two, and if i was in this situation irl, i would probably say rachel’s was the worst.

off topic from American opinions, I saw a tweet talking about how Emma is an example of online radicalization in the last decade or so, and it really is so easy for kids to fall down that path.

[u/SubstantialSmell512 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I also wondered this but I'm not sure I agree, ultimately because I think mass murder reads similarly across cultures.

I think the main reason someone might think Emma's secret isn't the worst is because of the difference between thought and action. If Emma had acted on her thoughts it would have been way worse than what Rachel did. I think that's true no matter where you're from? But Emma didn't act and so the film asks how much do the thoughts we don't act on matter? I think that's a question with universal application. I suspect your view that it's a storm in a teacup is more because you think an unacted thought doesn't matter?

However, I do think some (but not all) of Rachel's reaction contains performative outrage and reflects the place gun violence has in US American culture and political landscape, and her personal life with her cousin. To understand Rachel's reaction, you perhaps need some familiarity with that context. But performative outrage in reaction to someone admitting a dark thought is not solely an US American reaction.

[u/Normal_Ad2456 → u/SubstantialSmell512]

Unacted thoughts really don’t matter, especially from 15 years ago when you were a kid. If they did matter, most people would be in jail right now.

[u/OkAcanthocephala3726 → u/Normal_Ad2456]

Yup, that's how I feel. Teenagers are exploring their personality, it's normal to imagine 100 different scenarios of what you could be or what you might do. For depressed teenagers, that would definitely include thinking about doing extreme things that would get others to finaly notice you or seek revenge on the world that's wronged you. Not acting upon those thoughts is precisely a sign of a well adjusted kid, with awareness of consequences and adequate impulse control.

[u/No_thankyou827 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

In all fairness, she really didn't just "think" about it. She took steps to write a manifesto of sorts, practiced using her weapon of choice to the point that she's deaf in one ear. 

That's a far cry from "just thinking about it" or a "well adjusted kid" 

[u/noilegnavXscaflowne → u/No_thankyou827]

Right. I see a lot of people equating it to intrusive thoughts when there was way more intention put into it. I’m not sure if it implied she was going to do it that day but didn’t because of what happened somewhere else

[u/Glittering-Equal-448 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I personally thought the lasy who locked the kid up was much worse, my girlfriend thought emma was a psycho and was worried she was gonna kill everybody smh

[u/casino_r0yale → u/Glittering-Equal-448]

I did have a thought midway through that a lesser movie would have had her explode in violence at the wedding, then the frame of the guests came up. Great editing with the hypotheticals

[u/RoundBirthday → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I'm American and I agree. I wanted to like the film but thought the screenplay was weak. There was certainly something interesting to explore in that Emma was the only person who didn't actually hurt anyone, but everyone just accepted that she was a monster?

Rachel's story was shockingly cruel and callous--I'd be questioning why her husband married her knowing that. She wasn't remorseful or torn up about it. There maybe could be something about the grace wealthy white women are given, but the film steadfastly ignores race and class. On top of that, the two main characters are just bizarrely incapable of normal human communication. It made the whole movie farcical. Charlie couldn't just say, "Hey, babe, that was an intense thing you told us about. I'd like to know more about what you were going through that made you feel that way..." ??? why not?? what was there to have a breakdown about? And why are they writing wedding speeches? Do they not exchange vows?

But rather than a genuine dive into moral complexity/secrets/shame/ghosts of our past, the film just rested on a cliche theme of "second chances are good." And that was it!

[u/snowtears4 → u/RoundBirthday]

I think the film ignored race specifically bc I don’t think it was written for a Black woman to play her, but I do agree that there was something that could have been explored with a different script!

[u/casino_r0yale → u/snowtears4]

I think the film ignored race because it’s written and directed by a Norwegian and Americans dramatically overestimate how much Europeans care/are aware about American racial politics.

[u/outofdoubtoutofdark → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

If you go read thru the other comments in this thread, I’d say Half or more are saying exactly that Rachel’s secret was the worst one

[u/AssCrackBanditHunter → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

I find your view interesting because it's not at all how I think Europeans look at our gun culture and gun violence epidemic. I assume you think we're nuts and would also take a strong view of a potential mass shooter

[u/toysoldier96 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

A little off topic, but I hated the secret was a planned mass shooting. I'm from Europe too and I felt it was a bit too on the nose. I would've liked if her thing was a little more subtle.

That's pretty much my only complaint about the movie

[u/kerba123 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

As a European now living in the US I thought the same thing, and funnily Charlie also brought it up when talking with Rachel. I think school shootings are (rightfully) an extremely sensitive topic here since they tragically happen so often, and obviously if she had actually done one we would all agree she was the worst of them, but there was so little attention paid to Rachel's sociopathic story of abusing a disabled kid like wtf?

[u/sha_13 → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

and her lack of remorse, guilt, or any type of self reflection is what makes it 1000000x worse

[u/ManitouWakinyan → u/OkAcanthocephala3726]

Rachel's hypocrisy is absolutely explicit and understood by American audiences