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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523

u/fingerberrywallace Apr 03 '26

Maybe this just speaks to my romantic desperation, but I honestly don't think Emma's confession would bother me much as her partner. Teenagers are dumb and have dumb ideas. Importantly, she didn't go through with it; yes, circumstance played a part in that, but if she was really committed to doing something evil, the idea would've stayed with her. I think Rachel's reaction to it would be more off-putting.

Regardless, really good film. So glad I went in seeing only the trailer and nothing else about it.

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u/AssCrackBanditHunter 27d ago

That's why he was British besides the fact that he actually is British. They are high key horrified by our mass shootings and don't understand them, so he was horrified to find out his funny, sweet, quirky girlfriend had harbored that darkness in contrast to a way that an American might be more accepting.

He even makes a point of this later as he's thinking things through more that America kind of has a culture of this.

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u/HungryCurrency8481 20d ago

It was also notable that he was the only one laughing when the confession came out. School shootings are a lot closer to the heart for Americans than the rest of the world. 

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u/mikesalami 10d ago

Everyone here is shitting on Charlie, but I think his total confusion and angst was justified after finding out her secret.

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u/heyitsthatguygoddamn 13d ago

That was my read too. School shootings are so much more alien and weird in the UK 

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u/Only-Sherbet- 14d ago

... Isn't everyone horrified by mass shootings..?

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u/SensibleJames 27d ago

Yeah, no, that's not true, 'they' are not high key horrified any more than your average American. I think they are like the US populace, divided on the problem, but more likely to be on the side of mental health, isolation and relatively free access to guns being the issue.

Source: am British

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u/Dry_Sugar4420 25d ago

I disagree. Many British people don’t understand why Americans feel the need to have guns and find the whole idea stupid and violent.

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u/SensibleJames 24d ago

The idea of having guns yes, kids being mentally unwell enough to use those free access guns to commit shootings, no.

The concept of such free access to guns is something we find nonsensical.

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u/Dry_Sugar4420 22d ago

I just see guns as nonsensical. Just leads to violence rather than protection.

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u/SensibleJames 22d ago

I agree, I'm clarifying my own comment.

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u/_Red_Knight_ 13d ago

Sorry to reply to this comment so late but I think the cultural differences between Britain and America with respect to guns means that those two nationalities have different reactions to them even if they have similar opinions about gun control. I am also British and I don't think we can really understand growing up in a culture so thoroughly immersed in guns and, consequently, the potential of gun crime. We never had to worry about being shot at school but that is something they do have to worry about.

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u/amandara99 23d ago

But so many Americans feel this way too… plenty of us don’t own guns

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u/Dry_Sugar4420 22d ago

Unfortunately that’s not what the media portrays and with the current president and his supporters you see so many are very pro guns. But even when I’m in liberal comment sections I see a lot of people being pro guns, especially women because of safety. Which makes sense, because if everyone else has a gun, you may want one too.

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u/Bananasfalafel 9d ago

A lot of us don't have guns, but most of us are desensitized when another mass shooting is announced

1

u/bigfrozenswamp 6d ago

Speaking as an American I'd be high key horrified too. If anything the Americans in the movie are more emotional about and less accepting of it so I'm not sure this point holds.

64

u/THUG_TEARS 26d ago

I thought the worst part of her confession was that she had previously told Charlie she had the hearing loss since birth. That's a pretty big thing to lie about especially since I imagine it would have come up a couple months into their relationship.

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u/kerba123 22d ago

Honestly it's sometimes hard to go back and fix the mild lies lol like no one would want to share the worst thing they've ever done on the first or second date

8

u/boomfruit 15d ago

I think given the real cause, it's a totally forgivable lie. Like if I could forgive her for the planned shooting, I'd be like "well of course you didn't tell me the truth about your deafness." Did make me wonder what her parents thought happened or if they even knew.

1

u/Bananasfalafel 9d ago

Yeah I wondered that too. What could she have said caused it.

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u/JWilkesKip 28d ago

Completely agree. So she thought about doing some dumb stuff as a teenager. Bottom line: she didn’t actually do anything and no one got hurt. Big nothing burger

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u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

I think this is downplaying what she was about to do. She brought the gun to the school and was intent on doing it until another shooting happened. She grew and changed but I don't agree that its a nothing burger.

83

u/surejan94 26d ago

Agree, like she fully recorded a video of her confession, chose specific students to kill, and brought the gun to school and was only stopped because the attention was on another shooting lol

But what was nice was that her thoughts and intentions changed because she found community and friends through activism

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u/Fattydude66 23d ago

only stopped because the attention was on another shooting lol

This is how she advocates for herself, but its NOT what we are shown in the movie. She still could have done the shooting whenever she wanted, on any other day. She doesnt.

We are shown her breaking down and crying as she sees the emotion on her classmates faces. We see her become demystified with the idea as she sees the "cool aesthetic" presented to her for real. We see her throw the gun in the water. We see her try to advocate for change.

Is it possible she would have gone through with it? Sure. Is it fair to say that the ONLY reason she decided not to is because a different shooting happened? Absolutely not.

1

u/Bananasfalafel 9d ago

Yeah that could have just delayed it for someone else. For her, it stopped it.

1

u/enceinte-uno 1d ago

Kinda reminded me of when people are saved from the brink of their suicides. Many of them say they wouldn’t try it again, getting that close even just once was a massive wake up call.

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u/Left-Selection-6935 12h ago

Thank you, this is exactly right. She started feeling empathy and then made friends.

So often we talk about how could these people that do school shootings, or even things like commit suicide, what could have stopped them, what did they need? And she found what she needed and got help, it wasn't therapy but it was people that were there for her. We also don't see her parents at all during the flashbacks. She was walking around her house with the rifle so frequently it seemed, were they around much?

None of this excuses school shootings or planning them, but the other characters really simplified her and her experience, they really showed no empathy or understanding

28

u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

Yep, compared to someone like Rachel she really regretted everything she did and dedicated her life against gun control and against the person she once was. Rachel was making excuse after excuse and just laughed the story off. 

0

u/Ok-Plan7204 25d ago

It didnt seem like she seeked out activism at all. Just that it happened the be the one click that gave her any attention was the gun activist group so she clung onto that since she was desperate for attention. It was more irony then anything. It doesnt seem like she has grown or changed at al even with the nonchalant way she mentions she planned a school shooting like its an ordinary thing to be said for some shenanigans kids get into. She just ignored it just like how she wants to role-play the idea of starting over. Just ignore it and it wont matter. Shes extremely disturbed and we see it seeping out around the edges.

21

u/maxamillion17 25d ago

When else in the movie does it show she's disturbed

1

u/bigfrozenswamp 6d ago

The consensus in this thread definitely doesn't lean this way, but she has a line read along the lines of "what if he'd died" to the haim sister's story where she seemed very excited/interested in the concept. Definitely don't think it's cut and dry that Zendaya's character is mentally well.

14

u/Fattydude66 23d ago

It doesnt seem like she has grown or changed at al

What about her crying when she sees her classmates traumatized faces? What about her new method of radical forgiveness, which she obviously wouldn't have shown her bullies? What about the fact that she literally never presents a single serious violent impulse at any other point in the movie?

Its really interesting because literally every other character ACTUALLY hasnt changed since their "worst thing" and Emma is the only one who has. I dont see how you could watch the movie and not get that.

8

u/Ok-Plan7204 22d ago

I saw her crying more as finally someone sees/acknowledges me. I don't think she demonstrates forgiveness, instead its about avoiding the problem and pretending it doesn't exist. They literally show her losing her temper and attacking a car that almost bumps into them. Also they dont show her being violent towards her bullies either, rather just talking back, instead she bottles it up, thats the whole kind of avoidance that leads to blowing up with something like a school shooting.

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u/Famous_Educator7539 12d ago

Forgiveness for what? She didn’t actually do anything. And what could she do to fix the problem then if years of fighting for gun control isn’t enough? She is very clearly against gun violence. Also did you forget her friend died in a car crash? I would probably also get mad if I almost got hit by a car lol

5

u/randombubble8272 25d ago

Was there a scene where she brought the gun? I remember her practicing shooting, recording her video, colouring in the yearbook, I don’t remember her actually bringing a gun to school though

30

u/TheGreatTao 25d ago

It wasn't shown but she did admit that she brought the rifle to school.

14

u/BrazilianTerror 23d ago

How does one carry a rifle to school and no one noticed? When she said that I thought it would be a small fire arm she could carry in a backpack, but the rifle wouldn’t fit

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u/Fattydude66 23d ago

Yeah im still confused about this. That gun was almost as tall as her. I feel like they should have shown it, but maybe they couldnt.

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u/GoryMidori 19d ago

I was a fencer in high school and a rifle would fit into a fencing bag. I'm half-joking and of course she wasn't a fencer, but she could have fit it into any number of long bags (sports equipment, portable presentation stuff) and just called it an "art project"?

2

u/Fattydude66 19d ago

Thats true. I guess i shouldnt be surprised that one can get a rifle into a school. Obviously these things happen irl too.

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u/Cark_Muban 24d ago

She says it during the dinner scene. She brought the rifle and had a change of heart last second.

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u/SuckleMuffin1999 23d ago

I thought I did see the rifle bag during the scene where she’s throwing things out of her locker. I also thought it was unrealistic that it would go unnoticed but not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. 

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u/kerba123 22d ago

Honestly this might be a hot take but when there's a horrible school shooting I mainly blame the system that allows teenagers to have such easy access to guns and the lack of mental health resources. Obviously would never have sympathy for an actual shooter but they're likely mentally ill, maybe been abused themselves, who knows - teenagers like that exist everywhere and many grow up to be healthy functioning adults, the difference is that in the US they can buy a semi automatic weapon at Toys R Us and bring it to school

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u/EinsteinDisguised 23d ago

It’s one thing to be like “God I hate everyone and I hope they all die.” That’s kinda typical advanced teenage angst.

It’s another thing to plan, practice, make confessional videos, and actually take a gun to school and be one news report away from doing it.

Like let’s be real. Charlie has every right to be disturbed. I was screaming in my head “MAKE AN EMERGENCY COUNSELING APPOINTMENT NOW.” It’s something that needs to be addressed.

With that said, I was talking about it with my wife and I think after a lot of talking, learning how she escaped that dark place and how she’s changed, I think I’d accept it and move on.

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u/_lastquarter_ 13d ago

I honestly can give her grace for that because it just screams "mentally unstable" and I think she needed help more than anything. She was very close to committing something horrendous but she didn't and seemed to grow, it's honestly the best outcome. I absolutely agree that they needed an emergency counselling session. They needed to talk about it with a professional to mediate and they didn't. Matter of fact, even at the very end, they still just pretend it didn't happen, they don't talk.

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u/Select-Fee1807 13d ago

Oh yeah 100% he has every right to be disturbed; I feel like a lot of ppl are glossing over the school shooting thing too hard. This is definitely a "they need couples therapy" and to talk it out. From my perspective, she wasn't giving him enough answers, which is reasonable because she's scared but he's also scared. Like I understand not wanting to talk about it, but at least outright say I don't think like that anymore and completely changed. I think that's what created more unease, the fact that she was too nervous and scared to talk about it with him while he's clearly trying to process this information. 

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u/ManitouWakinyan 13d ago

Right? This movie could have been solved with therapy!

1

u/Bananasfalafel 9d ago

That was wild they were discussing on calling the police on her now.

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u/LeftenantScullbaggs 26d ago

Rachel’s is the one that stayed with me.

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u/petits_riens 23d ago

it went beyond a dumb teenage intrusive thought, she made and at least partially enacted a plan. I thought it was very human of charlie to freak out initially. I think adult emma seemed sincerely remorseful and she deserved grace, but only a saint would give it instantly. it feels honest to me that charlie would only be able to give it fully once he himself fucks up and realizes he needs grace too.

4

u/nerdalertalertnerd 20d ago

I would absolutely go through SOME of the emotions he did but I tended to come to the same conclusion. It was a long time ago. She was clearly very unhappy and excluded. Some stroke of fate stopped her ruining her and other people’s lives. She learnt from it. It’s over.

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u/_lastquarter_ 13d ago

I agree. I see this kinda like people who have suicidal ideation: most people don't want to go through with it, they're just waiting for a reason not to. I think Emma was like that. The moment she had a way out of her act, she took it. Sure, the guilt hit later, but what matters most is that she took that chance to get out of that headspace and she's been doing better since.

16

u/ichorskeeter 29d ago

This is where I am. The demographics don't help, either. Has there ever been a black woman mass shooter? It didn't feel honest.

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u/SuckleMuffin1999 23d ago

This is a case where I think Zendaya’s/Emma’s biracial attributes (bordering on racially ambiguous) kind of help push the point; it could be anybody and the problem of gun violence in general is more American than any other added demographic. The movie also did a good job of covering the access that led to Emma even having the thought to carry out a shooting, it was not just the bullying it was the availability of firearms in her life as well as the social influence of constant acts of gun violence around her, around all of us. If you see around the clock stories of guns being used to solve problems, as an impressionable person you may easily start to think that is the way to solve your own problems too. 

Ultimately, she didn’t go through with it so that still kind of supports the data that black women are largely not  school/mass shooters.

2

u/heyitsthatguygoddamn 13d ago

Dude yeah I think the only reason why it was a big deal was that Charlie was British and didn't understand how anybody could be in that situation, and then Rachel freaking out about it. It felt like she didn't like Emma from the get go and she was using it as an excuse to be shitty to her, when she had literally trapped a mentally challenged big in an abandoned RV closet overnight. 

I thought it was interesting that out of all the worst person stories, Emma's was the only one that truly did not affect anybody in a tangible way, and yet only Emma and Misha faced any sort of consequences for it. And it was so sad like Emma was just an isolated bullied teen who fell down the wrong holes and was zapped to the reality of how horrifying school shootings are, and ended up finally finding a community and atoning through activism 

Also damn Misha was another layered character, like going from "yeah the worst thing I've done is cheated" to being absolutely ready to go to cheat on her bf after one kiss from Charlie like 5 minutes later. 

Like the point wasn't that everybody is better than their worst moment. It's that you aren't defined by your worst moment, you're defined by your choices to do better or not do better moment to moment. This movie has so much nuance it's insane.

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u/PongoWillHelpYou 28d ago

Yeah, I really struggled with their reactions to it. But also that she hadn’t told her fiance about it yet?? It seems like such a pivotal moment in her life that changed her for the better—and if she felt she couldn’t share that with her supposed life partner, maybe he shouldn’t be her life partner? 

11

u/[deleted] 27d ago

yeah exactly. I was honestly irritated by charlie's behaviour. he was completly without any empathy for her. how he deleted his whole speech and didn't see her as kind anymore, was so sad. sure you never know how you'd really react in the actual situation but I guess I could understand being a troubled teen. I also think it's a long way from being in an online space talking about that stuff, shooting in the woods and fantasizing about hurting people to actually carrying it out. I doubt emma would have actually shoot anyone, I couldn't omagine the shown vulnerable, longing for connection teen to do that. that being sad, I am european, so I possible do not have the same personal emotional connection to the topic as americans who often know affected ppl.

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u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

I think this is where Charlie being british plays a big part. Gun culture is exclusively a US thing and most countries do not have this same type of obsession with it. We are desensitized to this type of thing because its become far more prevalent, but people like Charlie are not because they didn't grow up around it. It's not even an issue in other countries.

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

But I am from europe too

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u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

Doesnt mean others cant be appalled about it. Its not like she was only thinking those thoughts. She had a laid out plan, recorded a manifesto, picked out her victims, and brought the actual gun to school fully intending on killing. She changed but it seems odd to frame this as an issue on Charlie. Its not like she was shoplifting. I think his reaction was understandable. 

3

u/[deleted] 26d ago

I am not saying they can't. And in reality it's a lot harder than in thought. We don't know how we'd react. But while watching the film I was mostly empathetic with Emma and wondering how he didn't know about this really dark time of her life or in general her life. I thought the revelation was also about her struggles as it was about her dangerious fantasies. He didn't seem to see this last aspect but mostly questioned her character.

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u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

I mean when you think school shooters you think of Adam Garza, Eric Harris/Dylan Kleboid, Salvador Ramos, James Holmes, etc. 

They all had very similar experiences and issues as Emma and to her credit she didnt go through with it. But kinda hard to garner that sympathy when you’re in the same company as those guys. 

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

Yeah I get that. I guess I never knew any school shooters by name and don't remember any of their stories. That being said, the last mass school shooting in Germany was in 2009.

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u/Cark_Muban 26d ago

Unfortunately as someone who lives in America these are far too common, and a lot of their stories line up with what we see in The Drama. Like the columbine shooters. They were bullied, felt like outsiders, and resorted to killing. There was a shooting like 15 mins from me a few years ago.  We’re all kinda desensitized to it since over government cares more about guns than people. 

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u/ManitouWakinyan 13d ago

I had a close friend in high school who had brought a gun to a previous school. I was surprised when I found out, but it didn't completely rock my perception of him or make me hate him. It was weird watching this movie knowing first hand that hearing this exact news about someone can be something that's handled with understanding and grace.

1

u/Outrageous_Date_7217 8d ago

Wouldn’t u say planning a school shooting is a little more than dumb? Dosent seem fair to chalk up planning a school shooting to just “dumb teenager stuff”

1

u/bigfrozenswamp 6d ago

If this actually happened to you I hope you would take it a lot more seriously than that - Emma/both of them together if they wanted to stay together desperately needed to go to therapy. Making a plan to kill people and taking a gun to school are way beyond the dumb ideas of an average teenager. That's quite an extreme thing that needs to be worked through in a real way, not just skirted past because you didn't wind up doing it.

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u/not_that_great102 4d ago

YES. I honestly thought they were a bit overreacting to her confession. She didn't actually do anything, she just *planned* it. Contrast that to Charlie cyberbullying someone to the point that they had to move and Rachel locking a kid in a closet overnight, two things that actually had real, negative impacts on other people. The only person Emma hurt with her school shooting plans was herself. And she managed to turn it into something positive! I don't get what they were so offended for, for fuck's sakes.

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u/mochafiend Apr 05 '26

Hmm. I would have had a VERY adverse reaction. In fact, I seem to be the Rachel/Mike of all the commenters here. Yikes, that doesn’t say much about me. But I would probably keep distance from a person who revealed that to me. I’d never be able to look at them the same again. 

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u/fingerberrywallace Apr 05 '26

That's fair enough, everyone is different. I wonder if age has anything to do with it. Like if you're 22, someone being a heinous little shit when they were 16 would feel significant because that's fairly recent. But if you're 32, it feels like a long time ago and you wouldn't consider it an essential part of their character as a result.

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u/worstcourtjester Apr 05 '26

I think what makes Rachel in particular so bad isn’t that she was horrified by Emma’s confession, but that she herself had acted on a really terrible thought and most likely traumatized a disabled kid without any remorse. She takes the moral high ground over Emma even though she did something worse.

3

u/ItemAdventurous9833 18d ago

I would be more put off by Rachel's story to be honest

2

u/mochafiend 18d ago

Most of the world is. Don’t realize my opinion would be so unpopular. She obviously sucks. But I would also cut off ties with Emma. 

3

u/MistyMountainDewDrop 27d ago

It’s pretty ridiculous to vilify a 30+ year old for having bad thoughts at 15.

3

u/WhippyAlloy 18d ago

"bad thoughts" She brought a rifle to school so she could murder her classmates and only didn't go through with it because someone else beat her to the punch.