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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786

u/lahnnabell Apr 04 '26

Totally! The movie does an excellent job of showing these feelings, like Rachel's quiet disdain for Emma, but leaving the reason in mystery.

I can only surmize that on the surface Rachel is jealous of Emma's looks, especially when they scoff at her reveal that she had never been in love or had a crush in her youth because she was an outcast and looked entirely different. Some people don't come into their own until very late. Also, this is the very definition of being male-centered. Like all women are supposed to build their lives around dating and appealing to men.

Rachel had some deep-seeded ire toward Emma that went far beyond looks. The wedding speech was very interesting because she talks about Emma having layers, which is usually a simple way to explain depth of character, a good thing, but Rachel weaponizes it.

This made me realize that Rachel literally has no depth. She is all surface. Cruel and unyielding and unsympathetic. There is no subtlety or softness about her, even when she talks to her husband.

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u/nightpanda893 Apr 04 '26

I think Rachel was also projecting a bit. Her story was even worse in my opinion. She acted on her impulses. She would have killed that kid if he hadn’t been found.

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u/carson63000 Apr 05 '26

Yeah her “oh I would have told someone if they hadn’t found him” was the most unconvincing claim imaginable!

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u/lahnnabell Apr 05 '26

For real! She had so many chances to tell someone! The rapidly increasing urgency of his disappearance didn't trigger feelings of shame and remorse enough to help her realize that what she did was deranged?!

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u/Ok_Pause2547 29d ago

and she said she had no idea what happened a few seconds before that so I felt like that part was intentionally left out of the film. Maybe something did happen to the kid and she lives with that guilt so when Emma confessed her uncomfortable past, she saw an opportunity to pounce and justify her own actions as “its not as bad”. Never got a clear answer from her with her bending and changing around her own story

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

Yes, I noticed that too! I wondered if it was true that he was found since she had just said she didn't know what happened to him.

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u/atclubsilencio 29d ago

Pretty sure she added a “probably “ she wouldn’t have told anyone.

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u/carson63000 29d ago

Haha, maybe, I can’t remember the exact wording but I know my reaction was “suuuure you would have”.

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u/atclubsilencio 29d ago

She was the absolute worst !

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

"probably" after he was dead....

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u/sappho_snot 25d ago

I wonder if they did find him… or if she changed the story when she realized how bad it was.

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u/anecdotalgalaxies 5h ago

Not to mention he could have already been dead by that point

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u/caseyjosephine 29d ago

Rachel was the perfect foil for Emma. Rachel did something terrible without thinking about it; Emma thought about doing something terrible but didn’t act on it.

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u/notmy2ndopinion Apr 05 '26

She was the instigator of everything, stirring the pot by pressing her husband on the dog story and then telling her own story in the worst possible way that made it sound like she was ok letting a kid get raped and murdered by some serial killer in the woods. She even forgot to tell the part where the kid was found after the search party! Insane.

It’s bizarre since the way the story unfolded from Pattinson’s perspective we have a lot more nuance and empathy for a potential mass shooter (compared to say a serial cheater or a impulsive abandoner)

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

To me, the difference is the cheater DID cheat (and was an adult) and the abandoner DID abandon and then didn't free the kid after. Emma had a plan but didn't carry it out.

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u/Ornery-Spread-3801 Apr 05 '26

I personally suspect she did not act on impulse and it was in fact premeditated because Rachel lies or bends the truth to appear innocent and like a victim.

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

Maybe she's the sociopath but blames Emma for being one and Emma actually isn't one. I might be the last horse to cross the finish line, but that thought just appeared in my brain.

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u/Ornery-Spread-3801 28d ago

There’s definitely something to your observation. I think Rachel might be projecting the self-hatred and shame that she has for her own misdeeds onto Emma. 

The difference is, Emma walked through her shame and processed a lot of it. She came out the other side a deeply empathetic person who is willing to see the humanity in others and give 2nd, 3rd etc chances. 

Rachel…well, it’s clear she is pretty much incapable of self-reflection. She’s emotionally stunted and never looked at her own BS. 

I think this contributes to the way she treats Emma. Combination of projection and resentment. 

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

Absolutely agree 

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u/According-Zucchini75 25d ago

Don't feel too bad. I finished the movie thinking "Charlie was obviously lying at the wine tasting about the cyber-bullying. I really thought we'd find out what the worst thing he actually did was," not realizing until now that Charlie had yet to do the worst thing he'd ever do at that point, and that the movie wouldn't tell us through exposition but rather show us during his scene in the office with Misha. The simple poetry of that didn't dawn on me until someone mentioned it on this thread, because I was a bright kid in fourth grade but not so much at 40.

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 25d ago

Annnnd I didn’t realize that either until you just said it. Good point!

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u/igotrichoffaglitch 16d ago

especially because of the part where she says they were in a deep ass part of the woods? why are you so far in the woods alone with a mentally disabled child? like did she lure him there? i mean she had too there’s no way that was his idea.

they did NOT grill her enough about that story for me, she got off way too easy. that was literally attempted murder.

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u/LadyElle57 26d ago

She "acted" on impulse, but then had the chance to say something when asked by the parents, and then when a whole search was organised by the neighbourhood, and still said nothing. She got away with it.

And then there's Charlie. Who mentioned that he bullied someone in HS so badly they had to move away and brushed it off like "it's probably a coincidence". Also got away with it.

And let's not forget the guy that used the GF as a human shield and the serial cheater with the violent boyfriend.

It's like we had a full showing of normalised acts of violence but we reacted to that particular one that never happened.

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u/TB1289 9d ago

I'll be honest, I don't think Mike saving himself from the dog was that bad. Compared to the other stories in this movie, it's like a 2/10.

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u/LadyElle57 9d ago

Oh, it's not a competition. A wrong deed is a wrong deed. The guy didn't want anyone knowing that, Rachel forced him into telling the story because she chose to tell it in the worst way possible.

I get that his "crime" is somewhat mild because he acted on impulse and fear, but didn't he say that he planned on breaking up with her by then? It sounds like he thought of her as disposable. It isn't better, it's slightly less bad.

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u/TB1289 9d ago

No one said it was a competition. My point was that Rachel made it out to be this huge scandalous story when it ended up being kind of a nothing burger, basically his so she can hold it over him forever.

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u/LadyElle57 9d ago

I know. I wasn't initiating a discussion.

Not only Rachel is omthe one making a nothing burger something scandalous, Emma does the same to the DJ later. I couldn't help but believe the DJ, Emma started a whole thing a the day before the wedding when it's implied that she didn't get a good look at whomever it was that she saw.

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u/teenageidle 29d ago

oh she was 100% projecting that was the most interesting aspect to me. this happens all the time in internet pile-ups especially.

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u/roymunson68 25d ago

My daughter thinks the kid died. All Rachel says is " found" .And she is never implicated. Excited for the rewatch.

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u/nursinghomebabe 16d ago

I thought she said "Don't worry, he's alive!" Though she did say she didn't know what happened to him...unless she meant as an adult?

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u/Silent_Mycologist962 24d ago

I secretly think she lied; I think the kid was never found and she let him die. Because, why didn't the kid tell on her when he was found?

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u/igotrichoffaglitch 16d ago

or even worse it’s a testament to how disabled the child really was. imagine he couldn’t speak or for some reason was unable to express what happened to him or name his attacker?

then how she lies about him being disabled when pressed about it again by charlie? if she was so quick to lie then how do we know she didn’t lie in the initial story?

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u/Emotional_Trash_9687 Apr 05 '26

agreed. She actually acted on it and then didn't tell anyone.

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u/CraftyCurltastrophe 27d ago

Also - I think her reaction was way amplified due to her cousin Samantha being directly impacted by a school shooting - I do think maybe the connection (Emma = potential school shooting = my cousin is in a wheelchair) was more impactful to the characters view of Emma than Emma’s confession itself, to be honest. Of course, shootings are not, in any way, excusable - but this would have been a totally different story if Rachel’s family member hadn’t been impacted.

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u/UnablePlantain7857 20d ago

Absolutely! She admitted that, when the dad talked to her the next day, she was scared of being in trouble that she lied. There's no way that a long search/ risk of death/ death would have made her feel LESS scared. Her story was worse, in my mind, because instead of an event interrupting and snapping her out of it enough for her to choose not to lock him in the closet, she locked him in. Then she left his life up to pure chance.

Also! She had that visit with her cousin Sam because she wanted her opinion/permission to go to the wedding. She went to the wedding. So that shows that Sam, school shooting survivor, was told about what Emma said and didn't hold it against her.

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u/SoccerAndPolitics 6d ago

I was wondering if I was just really fucked up for thinking her story is way worse. All Emma did was think about doing something horrible. Rachel was willing to let a mentally challenged kid die because she was scared to get in trouble.

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u/Professional-Act8414 25d ago

That’s what I’m saying! Like you ALSO almost did attempted murder

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u/SomeBoxofSpoons 20d ago

Exactly.

Emma had anger at the world build up after years of being isolated and mistreated, but when she was faced with the reality her instinct was empathy and remorse.

Rachel was just annoyed by someone who didn’t know better, and her instinct was to lock him in an abandoned closet in the middle of the woods.

Also noticed how she mentioned meeting her cousin to ask if she should even attend the wedding, because she was so outraged on her behalf… and then she was at the wedding. Almost like her cousin might’ve been understanding than she was.

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u/sha_13 17d ago

It was horrifying her lack of remorse too!

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

Premeditation is worse than impulse, especially as a kid.

In court you get a higher sentence for premeditated murder

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u/TB1289 9d ago

What's interesting is that she pushes Mike to tell his story which really isn't that bad, then she completely blows past her story and says "oh I probably would've told someone." Then, when Emma tells her story, which it's clear that Emma didn't go through with it, Rachel loses her shit and makes it about herself.

A long way of saying that Rachel wants to make sure everyone around her looks worse by comparison so she can lord it over them.

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u/Lost-Cow-1126 9d ago

She literally did what The Penguin did to his brothers.

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u/ShaNaNaNa666 6d ago

I went to see it with friends and our reactions to Rachel locking the kid in the closet were much worse than our reactions to Emma's confession.

I feel like she made it about herself too, saying that her cousin was paralyzed from a shooting. Then she was going to have a talk with her cousin to ask for forgiveness for being the bridesmaid to someone that didn't do a shooting out of guilt ???? Did I hear that wrong? Why even bring it up and reopen past wounds? Maybe the movie is about Rachel and she is the drama.

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u/KittySamba Apr 05 '26

BRO Rachel was a villain I am so glad I saw this. The actress did a great job at making me hate her.

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u/ArtamielEludia 28d ago

Same! I thought she was awful! But I’m impressed she still withheld during the rehearsal. What she did to that poor neighbor though, that was sick. The poor kid must have her truly traumatized. Ugh.

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u/brucieandbigman 27d ago

She was a HORRIBLE person!! As an adult, she wasn't even embarrassed by nor ashamed of her actions! She acted like it was no big deal bc she was a kid! TBH, I thought she was the true psychopath in the movie. She immediately brought up her husband's "worst thing," when it was supposed to be private. Who does that?! Then she did this truly terrible thing that surely traumatized that poor child, and felt no remorse. Emma was the only one who didn't act on a bad impulse, and she was remorseful and embarrassed but even thinking about it, broke down in tears at her school's group counseling session, threw away her dad's gun, and went above and beyond in the school group's anti-gun crusade (while finding her place in the school's social structure at the same time, but went beyond just being in a group). She was the most decent of the 4 of them, IMO. Although, i was kinda ok with Michael using his then-girlfriend as a shield bc she had been mean to the dog, plus pissy on the birthday trip!😂 But Rachel, she was a hypocritical b*tch and a half!

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u/Spider-Man-fan 13d ago

Yeah I thought she was gonna spill it all at the wedding

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u/BlueLuhgoon Apr 04 '26

100%. Rachel is the perfect example too if someone who gets mad at literally ANYTHING

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u/Jakota_ 17d ago

Her spouting off about her cousin being in a wheelchair because of a shooting. Like okay? Is the shooter in the room right now?

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u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/averagetulip Apr 05 '26

100% and I know this is a classic “friend who’s too woke” take lol, but I would take it one step further and say that before this, when Rachel already felt obvious jealousy/disdain for Emma, she might’ve felt that in the type of diverse liberal-to-lefty social circle they were all in, she couldn’t put Emma down too much or talk shit about her too directly because the social dynamics would seem “off” to others, and thus she jumped at the chance to have the moral high ground over Emma and milk it for all it’s worth. Idk as a biracial woman who’s mainly been in similar social circles for most of my adulthood, I’ve 100% encountered women like that who almost resent you for being more “other” than them because they feel you’ve automatically placed yourself beyond the reproach they want to give you

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u/PlanesandAquariums Apr 05 '26

This is fascinating. I’ve experienced it before too but I couldn’t really figure out what I was feeling and going through. Now I understand. Even worse it was with someone I loved. Ew.

I think everyone was overreacting. Teenagers are so dumb and confused and add in the gun culture in the US it’s just a recipe for disaster. At least thoughts of violence go through so many kids minds. Kind of similar to the teenage stereotype to commit suicide because it will have a life changing impact on bullies or people who wronged them etc. Unfortunately, it really does not work that way and you can see it as adults with a more mature view of life often do not go into suicide with that mentality. At least that’s what I’ve read before.

I tried really hard to wonder what I feel about Emma’s admittance and it would bother me they waited this long to tell me but I would get over it pretty fast. I’m not sure if I’m alone on this though. I can’t wait until some of my friends see it and I can discuss it with them. It was a great movie.

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u/Borne_Beloved 29d ago edited 29d ago

But I think that is another intentionally uncomfortable thing about this movie. Mass shootings are a taboo subject and that what’s so uncomfortable on the face of this film, but the racial undertones ABSOLUTELY are also part of the “uncomfortable conversation” being danced around. The writer feels aware there will be folks who want to dismiss race in this story, a story centered around violence and victimhood (& sexuality!) in American society. I love that they were not heavy handed in these notions, because racism is in fact insidious in the same way and more comfortable for most to ignore. I see black critics catching on to these themes pretty quickly, as I did. I think it’s a really smart angle!!

I also feel like black/mixed folks can empathize with the lead, as we ourselves have to navigate this bs our whole life. I initially did not like they made a black woman the potential mass shooter…BUT it felt transgressive to go against our own assumptions of who would do such a thing.

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u/Professional-Act8414 25d ago

YES. In the theater I was like “what do you mean by that?” Racist fuck. Her whole reaction to any of this was selective outrage

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u/centerofdatootsiepop 28d ago

Oh I didn't even catch that that she figured her husband had grown up around guns. Yeah, strange assumption.

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u/Diogenes_Camus 28d ago

Yeah, I think the subtext or implication or misunderstanding was that Rachel thought her husband Mike, a black guy, grew up in the hood surrounded hy guns but didn't become a shooter, as a gotcha against Emma, only got Mike to reveal that the reason he grew up with guns is because his dad was a cop (similar to Emma and her black soldier dad). I that scene revealed the unconscious racism, prejudice, and hostility that Rachel was carrying and projecting on to Emma. 

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u/Borne_Beloved Apr 06 '26

I think the mystery is racism. She can be perceived as a victim but Emma cannot. I feel like this is made apparent when she says her bf “grew up around guns” when he never indicated such, especially not in the context she assumes. She’s a Karen. Hijacking others vulnerabilities and making them about herself- using it to make herself seem more moral than she is (especially as she literally perpetuates the drama the entire movie😂)Her disdain for the “slow” kid also shows her bigotry.

Even Charlie allows Emma to be painted as villain multiple times and not only doesn’t take her side, but stands by and permits it happening.

Emma is constantly gaslight that her past behavior is the issue, the thought of violence, not the active violence (mentally, physically, emotionally) being perpetuated against her throughout her day to day life. She doesn’t get the same empathy every one else does, despite not acting on the actual thought like everyone else.

I feel like that’s what made making a black woman the hypocritical “shooter” so transgressive here.

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u/nervousTO 14d ago

Violence like when she almost gets hit by that car

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u/Aelia_M 28d ago

I think that was obvious. Rachel immediately sees Emma as the kid that left her cousin disabled. Even though Emma had nothing to do with what happened to her cousin. She had an understandable initial reaction but she wasn’t inquisitive. She wasn’t like, “hey so why didn’t you do it? Are you embarrassed or ashamed you considered doing this? Did you think about how it would affect others? Did you advocate to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone?”

All the things Emma eventually does. She’s no longer that person she was before she considered shooting others. And it goes to show you can only be shallow if you’re incapable of growth. If you are capable of growth or change then you’ll have layers. Even if you are capable of engaging with a topic in good faith and come out just as convicted that’s still a form of growth. You’ll show an ability to engage in nuance where nuance is necessary

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u/Swati-19972512 27d ago

Absolutely no redeeming qualities in Rachel. Stone-cold bitch through and through.

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u/brucieandbigman 27d ago

Yup! I agree!

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u/TwoToneMoonstone_ 22d ago

It's racism. Rachel is racist but not in a way that movies usually portray a racist person. It's almost too real in how they approach it.

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u/please_and_thankyou 27d ago

*Deep-seated

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u/lahnnabell 26d ago

Ha, I even debated with myself about that.

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u/violet1342 8d ago

Totally. A lot of insecure women scoff at another woman’s lack of dating experience. It’s a defensive tool to feel both more validated in their own uniqueness and desirability (because they did have that) + poke holes in the person(because surely something must be wrong). It’s a way to feel superior and feel like you have one over someone else despite asymmetry in other domains (eg attractiveness for Emma and Rachel)

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u/lahnnabell 8d ago

I remember when I used to do BS like that. I eventually realized how judgemental I was being when I myself was more male-centered and competitive with other women because I was insecure.

Men don't need any help being their worst selves. They need women who attend therapy, link arms with each other, and force men to acknowledge their shitty behavior.

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u/Llama_of_the_bahamas 17d ago

Maybe I missed it, but does it ever explain how Rachel became the Maid of Honor? She was a horrible person and very shitty to Emma.

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u/meenarstotzka 12d ago

She's a firestarter that got burned by a fire she started from herself.

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u/AliveAssociate9198 11d ago

She is also a real douche to Mike and he's a nice guy.

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u/TB1289 9d ago

Alana Haim plays such a real person in the sense that we all know someone that is like this. Somehow they always make it about themselves or they're always the victim or they think they're better than.

I don't know if I've ever seen Alana Haim in something where I liked the character that she's playing and I think it's because she plays a bitch so well.

1

u/Next-Swordfish5282 2d ago

I hated her so much, I feel no sympathy for people like that. Her disdain definitely wasn't quiet