The Drama
Red flags tangle with satin, lace and tulle in a pre-nuptial romcom that plays like a drama.
Nobody’s perfect: Robert Pattinson and Zendaya
Image courtesy of Entertainment Film Dists Ltd.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
A better title might be The Discomfort. Because how well do you really, really know anybody – even your prospective spouse? Emma Harwood (Zendaya) is a creative, passionate, caring, funny and beautiful bookstore clerk who actually reads books – in public. She is reading Harper Ellison’s The Damage in a New York coffee shop when she is approached by Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson), an English art museum director, who gives her quite the chat-up spiel. But because Emma is deaf in one ear, she doesn’t hear him and he returns to his seat a little ruffled. He then tries again, and this time she reacts, and a date is arranged. They are still dancing during the opening credits and afterwards they are navigating the trials of the pre-nuptial planning: the photographs, the music, the choosing of the bride of honour, et al.
At a private wine tasting, they discuss their prospective DJ, who they caught smoking heroin on the street. Should they fire her? Emma’s bride of honour, Rachel (Alana Haim), suggests they give her the benefit of the doubt as we’ve all done bad things, right? So, after two more bottles of wine, Charlie, Emma, Rachel and Charlie’s best man Mike (Mamoudou Athie) confide in each other about the worst things they have ever done. It’s bit of an eye-opener, and when it comes to Emma’s confession, Rachel’s reaction sets off a chain-reaction that seriously destabilises Charlie. Depending on how you view each transgression, based on your own social context, each “worst thing” carries with it its own stigma. Besides, Emma was only 15-years-old at the time…
It helps that Emma and Charlie are played by such appealing actors and whether we like it or not we are drawn to them and their early meet-cute dating antics. They are good-looking mannequins in a generic romcom framework that gradually changes gear and turns into a claustrophobic thriller. It’s unsettling because we care about these love birds and it’s quite the balancing act that the writer-director Kristoffer Borgli pulls off. Borgli is a slow-burn director who understands the importance of character and knows how to place them in bizarre situations before throwing them under his metaphorical bus. In his ingenious, darkly comic Dream Scenario, Nicolas Cage played a complete dork who inadvertently became a media sensation. The film worked because of Borgli’s strict attention to detail, character and sound design, assets he draws on here to chillingly comic effect. We laugh in spite of ourselves, wondering what happened to the romcom before the Drama took over. Robert Pattinson is terrific, there’s another accomplished off-centre score from Daniel Pemberton and the domino effect of misunderstandings are so excruciating that we dare not laugh (even though we do). Anybody planning a wedding should maybe take a gander.
Cast: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie, Hailey Benton Gates, Sydney Lemmon, Hannah Gross, Zoë Winters, Anna Baryshnikov, Michael Abbott Jr, Jordyn Curet, Damon Gupton.
Dir Kristoffer Borgli, Pro Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen and Tyler Campellone, Screenplay Kristoffer Borgli, Ph Arseni Khachaturan, Pro Des Zosia Mackenzie, Ed Kristoffer Borgli and Joshua Raymond Lee, Music Daniel Pemberton, Costumes Katina Danabassis, Sound Jack Sobo, Dialect coach Victoria Hanlin.
Square Peg-Entertainment Film Dists Ltd.
105 mins. USA. 2026. UK and US Rel: 3 April 2026. Cert. 15.
