The Drama (2026) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on The Drama

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 15 November 2026 · The Pros 68 · The Punters 63 · Spore Score 66 · How we write our takes

Why The Pros and The Punters agree

The Drama is the kind of film people argue about on the way home, yet critics and audiences end up in much the same place. The Pros give it 68, The Punters 63, and the Spore Score is 66, a crystal clear result with a 5-point gap. Neither camp calls it a triumph and neither writes it off. Most agree the idea is sharp and the leads are excellent, and most also agree the film does not quite land every turn.

What it is

A24's dark comedy is written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the Norwegian film-maker behind Sick of Myself and Dream Scenario. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson play Emma and Charlie, a happy Boston couple a week away from their wedding. Over too much wine with their friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), a party game about the worst thing you have ever done goes badly wrong when Emma shares a secret from her teenage years. The rest of the film follows Charlie as he tries, and fails, to put it out of his mind before the big day.

What it does well

Pattinson is terrific as a man whose nerves come apart in slow motion, and Zendaya gives Emma a warmth that keeps the audience on her side even when the people around her are not sure. Borgli is good at the squirm: dinner parties, wedding planning and awkward work moments all become small tests of how well you can really know someone. The wedding itself is a strong, chaotic finale.

Where it falls short

Some of the comedy is broad, a few running jokes are repeated too often, and the story throws in one twist too many on the way to the end. The central confession is a serious subject, and not every viewer will feel the film handles the shift between laughs and discomfort smoothly.

Who it is for

Fans of awkward, uncomfortable comedy, admirers of Borgli's earlier films, and anyone curious to see two big stars play against their usual image. It is not a romantic comedy, whatever the poster suggests.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Good bet, with a Spore Score of 66. A provocative idea carried by two very good performances, uneven in places, and a film that critics and audiences have judged almost exactly alike.