Critics React to Zendaya and Robert Pattinson's 'The Drama' Amidst Controversy
Reviews are in for 'The Drama,' starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, but its plot is sparking controversy.
Reviews are in for the dark comedy The Drama – the new A24 film starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson – and critics are largely praising the film.
Released April 3, the film features Zendaya and Pattinson as a couple days away from their wedding. Their relationship unravels after a parlor game revelation where players confess their “worst deed.”
It currently holds an 83% 'certified fresh' score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers highlighting the film's “provocative” storyline. Zendaya’s character reveals she planned a school shooting as a teenager.
In a four-star review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote: “It offers us a provocation, a jeu d’ésprit of outrage, a psychological meltdown that is more astutely articulated than in many another more solemnly intended film.”
The Independent, also giving four stars, called the film’s twist the reason it is “the most uncomfortable film of the year.”
EMPIRE magazine praised the film, describing it as “a dark and darkly funny dissection of a couple’s ‘perfect’ relationship, examining how internal forces and exterior pressures can drive two people to their breaking point.”
The Times awarded the film a full five stars, stating: “Robert Pattinson and Zendaya excel in [this] cringe-out-loud satire.”
The Telegraph, however, was less impressed, giving it two stars. They commented: “The Drama promises bombshell revelations and the wedding from hell, but serves up a cramped, feel-bad, unromantic comedy with characters we don’t care about.”
However, the film is not without controversy.
The parent of a child murdered in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre has criticized the A24 film and its plot centering around a school shooting.
Speaking to TMZ, Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was murdered in the Columbine massacre, expressed his disgust with the film's subject matter, calling it “awful” that filmmakers chose this idea as the movie's twist. He also believes a popular star like Zendaya “humanizes” the issue of school shootings.
On April 20, 1999, teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 13 fellow students and one teacher in a school shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. The pair then committed suicide in one of the most infamous tragedies in American history.
The massacre ignited a national debate on gun control and inspired films such as Michael Moore's Oscar-winning documentary Bowling For Columbine and the 2003 fictional drama Elephant.
Distributor A24 has yet to issue a public statement regarding the backlash.
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