Could film-makers please stop making anxiety-ridden, packed movies, as my nerves cannot cope anymore. With films like Marty Supreme and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You out in the world, I often leave the cinema frazzled. Now we can add The Drama to the collection. It was certainly the worst of the group, starting off so ordinary that by the end, I was a wreck. The story of a relationship crushed by a single confession was one of the toughest movies I have watched, yet also an absolute blast.

Happily engaged couple Emma and Charlie are heading towards the week of their wedding. With all the plans and arrangements and mounting stress, they spend a night with their friends, Rachel and Mike, choosing food and drink for the service and enjoying too much wine. A game of Worst Thing You Have Ever Done begins, sending Emma and Charlie’s relationship into a downward spiral when Emma’s confession raises all kinds of moral issues.

To say any more would spoil the whole movie, as this is like watching a two-car pile-up, having more cars ploughing into it. Every moment gets worse than the previous. Writer and director Kristoffer Borgli, whose previous work includes the equally shocking Sick of Myself and the bizarre Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage, knows exactly how to turn the screw when it comes to making you wince. What he does is very clever, so that you feel so awful because you genuinely like the characters.

For the first half of the movie, we see the couple as they start their relationship, how they meet, their first date, and the growth of the pair as a couple. To be honest, I started to struggle watching this loving couple going through all those beats during the first few days/weeks/years. We watch as Charlie lies about a book that Emma is reading to start a conversation, and that Emma is deaf in one ear. As soon as the confession is announced, the tone shifts, and this is when the film really works.

Some of the editing ideas are a little jarring in places, but with a solid soundtrack, it helps create a sense of being incredibly uncomfortable throughout the last two acts. You watch as their world literally falls apart and they make some really terrible decisions, especially Charlie, who is on the verge of a full-on meltdown, so that by the final act, he is almost a completely broken man.

This is a layered, complex film that is supposed to be a romantic comedy but is as far removed from that world as possible. It does have plenty of humour, but in the darkest way possible. Do not go into this with a feeling of cosiness and sweetness because this isn’t that film. Instead, what you will get is a nightmare scenario, asking the question, ” Do we really know each other?”

What really helps this work are the performances. Two young superstars who prove they are really strong actors. Zendaya, who showed how good she is in films like Challengers, is given one of her strongest performances as Emma, a woman who watches her world literally crash around her. You feel completely for her, and you are torn when she gives her confession. It’s a powerhouse from the young actress. Equally, Robert Patterson, who has distanced himself from his days in Twilight with some terrific indie movies, gives his finest here as Charlie. It’s the most uncomfortable of all of his performances as you witness a man crumbling in front of your eyes.

I also have to mention Alana Haim, as Emma’s maid of honour, Rachel. Having impressed in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, and even if this is a much smaller role, she is terrific as she is part of the problem between the couple. Proof that you can make an impact in any role.

I didn’t know what to expect when going into The Drama, and for the first half, it was irritating me, but it turned out to be an incredible film that has stayed with me days after seeing it. It did make me uncomfortable, it made my nerves jangle, and I was brimming with anxiety, but that was the point, and it certainly worked for me. Go in cold if you can, because you will enjoy it even more (if enjoy is the right word).

4 out of 5

Director: Kristoffer Borgli

Starring: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie, Hailey Benton Gates, Sydney Lemmon, Hannah Gross, Anna Baryshnikov, Jordyn Curet, Michael Abbott Jr

Written by: Kristoffer Borgli

Running Time: 105 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 3rd April 2026