This is a controversial movie - THE DRAMA (A24)

Would you marry someone you discover you don't know the day before your wedding? That's the one of the impossible questions at the heart of the drama, the new A24 film starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. A story about love, trust, and how well we really know the people we choose to spend our lives with. The question that lingers throughout the drama is when we love someone, do we love the person or do we love what we want that person to be? The film opens with Robert Pattinson's character writing a speech that must describe Zendaya's character who will become his wife in the coming days. The film ends with a very different text. This new A24 release, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Christopher Borgli, doesn't stray far from his previous films in which he places characters with somewhat eccentric personalities but in ordinary contexts into a bizarre situation from which they don't know how to escape unscathed. Emma and Charlie are just days away from getting married. While taste testing the food and drinks to be served at the wedding with Rachel and Mike, played by Alana Haim and Mamadou Afi, the best man and maid of honor, Emma confesses that at the age of 15, she came close to carrying out a school shooting. At first, her boyfriend and the best man don't believe her. Rachel is deeply offended as her niece was left in a wheelchair in one. Without much hesitation, Emma reaffirms her confession. From that moment on, nothing will be the same for the couple. Charlie loses almost all trust in her while trying to justify his soon-to-be wife. The film's lead is Robert Pattinson, who already has an extensive resume of characters on the edge of a breakdown. Charlie is an ordinary, good-natured man, somewhat unusual as shown by the first time he asks Emma out, but ultimately ordinary and good, so much so that he has objectively never done anything wrong. When he discovers Emma's past, his world falls apart. Rationally, he does everything possible to move the wedding forward, but he simply cannot. He is a character that effectively allows the audience to put themselves in his shoes when faced with such a situation. Emma is another matter. Can the audience empathize with someone who thought about and planned to carry out an act like this? Perhaps the bigger question is, why didn't she go through with it? That would justify those who seek to attack or defend Zendaya's character. And although we know it was because a shooting happened elsewhere and that made her reconsider everything, is that still enough to forgive it? This is where the most interesting part of this exercise lies. However, it must be acknowledged that, at least from our perspective, the story ultimately feels like it wants to manipulate the audience into forgiving and accepting Emma. The plot clearly wants to demonstrate at every turn that she is not truly a person capable of doing such a thing, and that those were simply confusing times. This may well be true. Charlie even explains it quite effectively when trying to defend his girlfriend to Rachel. People think about doing terrible things all the time, and in the United States, with so many shootings, statistically, it is clear that a great many people think about carrying them out. But does that actually make them bad people? If the drama did the opposite and constantly portrayed Emma as a genuine psychopath, we would have the same problem. Christopher Borgli's film starts with an incredible premise but leaves no room for interpretation. It doesn't seem interested in whether Zendaya's character has real issues or not. On the contrary, it constantly focuses on Charlie and places him under the microscope, to the point where it gives the impression of wanting to equate his mistake of almost sleeping with his secretary and making a fool of himself at the wedding with a school shooting. Absurd. Both lead actors manage to match the film's tone. As already noted, with Robert Pattinson, there are never any doubts. But the one who surprises this time is Zendaya. A rare case of an actress who, despite appearing in three or four commercial films a year, including a series, still finds space for riskier, more authored works like Challengers and the drama. And, oh, surprise, those are the only ones in which she stops being a marketing tool and graduates as a true actress. Special mention also goes to Alana Haim, who needs to firmly establish herself in Hollywood once and for all. And to Jordan Kuret, who portrays the young Emma in many of the film's darker passages. The drama has great moments, maintains a good pace, and opens a conversation that, however uncomfortable, must be had. Why do school shootings happen? Can people who think about carrying them out, or even those who have, be saved? How does the mind of such a person work? Perhaps the solution to this terrible reality, which no longer belongs exclusively to American history, begins with these answers. If you enjoyed this review, hit the like button and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And drop a comment below. Would you have gone through with the wedding? The comments are all yours.