The Drama Review:
“One time, 1965, August, for about an hour, I was both fine and dandy at the same time. But nobody asked me how I was. And I could have told them. I could have told them…”
Said George Carlin once.
Watching Kristoffer Borgli’s The Dramastarring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, is like sitting through a long standup session by George Carlin. You laugh at the jokes instantly and incessantly, only to pause and reflect on the provocative undertones soon afterwards and realise that the joke is on us. Carlin’s comedy often questions our morality, stripping us of our passivity to confront the harsh realities that we prefer to overlook. The film shares the same interrogative DNA as a Carlin session. It explores many hefty themes, including the importance of trust and loyalty in relationships, gun violence in America, how deeply public perception influences privacy, choices and second chances, and empathy. And it delivers all its big, bold ideas with the kind of surgical precision and wit that makes it an entertaining and disquieting watch at once.
It is nigh impossible to discuss the film’s plot and avoid spoilers at the same time. Just to be on the safe side, here is all you want to know: Zendaya and Pattinson play a couple who are about to get married. One of them is still traumatised by an incident that dates back to childhood and is having major anxiety issues, even as others regard these as mere pre-wedding jitters. The other is reeling as the specifics of the incident spill out over a session of drinks with their future maid of honour, Rachel (Alana Haim), and best man, Mike (Mamoudou Athie). As they play a game where each of them makes honest confessions about their worst deeds from the past, things take an ugly turn.
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Cast: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie
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