The Drama Review: A Bitterly Funny Anti Rom-Com

Dir: Kristoffer Borgli
Cast: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson

_The Drama_ begins with a meet-cute, as Charlie, a handsome but scruffy Englishman, spies an attractive stranger, Emma, absorbed in a novel at a café. He takes a covert snap of the book's cover and strikes up a conversation, pretending to have read the book. After a false start, they get to talking, and the rest is history.

However, something is off. The sounds of the café are interrupted by warped, gurgling noises, and the editing style is unnervingly jittery. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Charlie and Emma's relationship is not what it seems. Days before their wedding, Emma divulges a secret from her past that deeply disturbs Charlie, prompting him to reevaluate their entire relationship.

The film is a commentary on the psychic rot of the internet and the ways in which people present themselves online. It's a deliberately disorienting, cringe-worthy morality play that forces the viewer to make sense of the characters' mental unravellings and decide what is irrational, what is exaggeration, and what is truly monstrous.