On April 3rd, Kristoffer Borgli’s highly anticipated movie The Drama was released in theaters. The movie stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, who play an engaged couple. A few days before the wedding, Zendaya’s character Emma reveals “the worst thing” she’s ever done. The secret Emma shared was that she planned and recorded a manifesto with the intention of committing a school shooting, although she didn’t end up going through with it. Upon learning about the secret, Emma’s fiancé, Charlie, played by Robert Pattinson, begins to spiral, questioning whether it would be okay to move forward with the wedding after finding out what she did.
The film was immediately popular and even became the seventh highest-grossing film from the popular production and distribution company, A24. Despite its popularity, the film was subject to criticism even before its release, after fans found out that gun violence would be a topic of the film. Many found that it was being poorly advertised. Prior to going to see the movie, audiences believed they were going into a romantic comedy. Part of the marketing strategy was a fake engagement announcement in the Boston Globe and a wedding website, which led to many audience members being disturbed, claiming that the marketing concealed the true dark nature of the film.
One of the most outspoken critics of The Drama is Tom Mauser, a gun advocate whose son Daniel Mauser was murdered in the 1999 Columbine school shooting. According to an article by The Guardian titled “Backlash mounts over twist in Robert Pattinson Zendaya romcom The Drama”, Mauser has stated his belief that the film’s topic is inappropriate for a romantic comedy. He was disgusted by the film and the fact that the “plot twist” was planning a school shooting. Mauser found Zendaya’s discussion of the reveal in a Jimmy Kimmel interview to be insensitive. He believed her labeling of the reveal as a “plot twist” to be insensitive and not giving the issue the seriousness it deserves.
One BSGE junior stated that although she disliked the film and found that it was “poorly done”, she disagrees with the criticisms that have been made against it. Another BSGE student thought the movie was “really good” and said she “thoroughly enjoyed watching it”. She also disagreed with the criticisms, although she understood where people were coming from due to the sensitive topic being covered.
Although I understand criticisms of the film and find them valid, I personally disagree with them. I went to see The Drama on opening night and found it to be well-done, especially when it came to switching between heavy and light topics. I found the way the film portrayed Charlie’s character to be especially outstanding because of how realistic his handling of the situation felt. Even though many believed the film was advertised misleadingly, I found that the little knowledge I had beforehand left me more engaged in the theater.
