Kristoffer Borgli Explains the Drama in “The Drama”

This article contains spoilers.

From rising indie filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself, Dream Scenario) comes The Drama, a dark romantic comedy that follows two young Boston professionals whose relationship faces a significant stress test after a sudden confection threatens their upcoming nuptials.

British expat Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson) is a museum curator who meets literary editor Emma Harwood (Zendaya) in a Cambridge café. Emma is deaf in one ear, which plays into the comical “meet cute” moment.

Following a whirlwind courtship, they begin planning their wedding with the help of Charlie’s best friend Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and his wife Rachel (Alana Haim). However, during a drunken game of “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” a stratling confession sends the seemingly perfect couple spiraling into doubt and chaos as they navigate their rocky path to the altar.

What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done?

The friends begin sharing minor transgressions — romantic betrayals, adolescent cruelty, cyberbullying. When Emma’s turn arrives, she reveals something far darker: as a teenager, she planned a school shooting. This pivotal moment happens early in the first act and shunts the romcom into much darker terrain.

The explosive confession escalates: Emma stole her father’s rifle, brought it to school, and even practiced shooting in the woods — this damaged her hearing in one ear. Crucially, “she never went through with the plan,”  but her intention was planned and real, and born from the pain of being bullied as a Black girl in Louisiana. She was young, traumatized, and consumed by fantasies of revenge against her aggressors. Much of the film aims to understand, justify or excuse Emma’s thoughts.

Charlie spirals into an existential crisis, questioning whether he ever truly knew her, and wrestling with the existential question of whether love can survive such a revelation.

Despite this, the wedding proceeds chaotically. Charlie kisses his coworker Misha (Hailey Gates), but stops short of anything further. At the reception, Rachel threatens to expose Emma’s secret in her maid of honor speech. Misha reveals the kiss to Emma, who then tells Charlie. The wedding descends into an unmitigated disaster.

The film ends both ambiguously and ambitiously, returning to its cental question of whether a relationship can survive such a shock. A bruised and tuxedo-stained Charlie finds Emma at a late-night diner, still in her wedding dress. They sit across from each other and attempt to start over as if meeting for the first time.

Kristoffer Borgli

The Impetus Behind The Drama

 “The Drama is about that idea being stress-tested between two people who are head over heels in love, who maybe never considered there could be more to the other person. It’s about the power of love — an emotional state you don’t get to control, and how complicated that becomes when your feelings are at odds with your rationale. When that balance slips, you find yourself in a crucial dilemma,” Borgli shares.

Borgli, a Norwegian native,  began writing the movie as a reflection of his own thoughts on the ups and downs of romantic relationships, particularly the quiet negotiations we all make between our emotions and our logic. He became interested in how people act in different cultural environments, which influences the character dynamics in the film.

While Charlie, with his British reserve, is buttoned-up and slightly repressed, Emma reveals herself early in the story as someone more willing to expose her raw unhealed wounds from her Louisiana childhood. “Emma is someone who is desperately seeking to belong and fit in — she wants to be part of Charlie’s life,” Zendaya, who portrays Emma, explains. “From childhood, she’s been someone who never quite found her tribe or community, instead finding that belonging in Charlie and his friend group.”

Charlie, for his part, believes he has stumbled into a perfect relationship with the woman of his dreams. “Charlie can’t imagine Emma could possibly do anything wrong,” Robert Pattinson adds. Despite being a good guy, Charlie doesn’t like to make a fuss and feels compelled to maintain the illusion that everything in their relationship is fine. “Unlike Emma, he hasn’t experienced intense or severe life changes. He genuinely cares about whether people think he’s a good person,” Zendaya continues.

At first, the stunning revelation is not a dealbreaker for Emma and Charlie as they continue with their wedding plans. “You don’t instantly fall out of love when something like that is revealed — it creates inner conflict, and you begin to see the true image of what you’ve fallen in love with,” Borgli states. “We all carry parts of ourselves that we keep hidden. Secrets, mistakes, fears — things we worry might change how others see us, even though they fundamentally shape who we are. There’s real clarity that comes from living in your truth, but there is also a risk in that. That tension fascinates me.”

As they plan their future together, the couple struggles to determine whether their bond can survive such a revelation. Borgli remarks, “Polite society presents an affluent and privileged existence where violence can creep in unexpectedly. Charlie and Emma have been conditioned not to speak frankly about their issues — they’re simply trying to get through their wedding.”

“We’re constantly walking on eggshells over where our moral lines are drawn in our relationships — sharing deep truths with anyone feels risky today,” Borgli shares. “Being vulnerable and sharing the difficult parts of yourself, including the struggles and challenges you’ve faced, can be a great bonding experience.” However, romantic bonds are fragile. As their wedding day approaches, their relationship begins to fester.

“Charlie and Emma are both overthinkers, and that’s where another messy line in this movie gets drawn — between the things you’ve done in your past and how those things can creep into your present,” Borgli reflects.

Mike (Mamoudou Athie) & Rachel (Alana Haim) Photo by Jaclyn Martinez/ A24 Films.

Final Thoughts on The Drama

Kristoffer Borgli’s central goal with The Drama is to interrogate the fundamental unknowability of intimate relationships. Rather than crafting a traditional dark wedding comedy or sharp morality tale, Borgli deliberately constructs a scenario designed to force both his characters and his audience into discomfort — not for shock value alone, but to explore deeper philosophical questions about trust, perception, and the myths we construct around those closest to us. Borgli has emphasized that the film is less about condemning a specific act and more about examining how a single revelation reshapes everything we thought we understood about another person.

He’s interested in the gap between who we think our partners are and who they actually are — the liminal space where love either survives or collapses. The film asks: Can you love someone after learning their darkest impulse? Should you? What does forgiveness actually mean when the transgression exists only in intention, not action?

Borgl’s films are seismic provocations which aren’t afraid to tread into murky moral territory.

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.