"What a drama!": what is known about the dramedy with Pattinson and Zendaya
The new A24 studio film, "What a Drama!" was released on April 9, 2026 and immediately divided critics and viewers into two camps. A romantic comedy with elements of a psychological thriller, shot by Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli, brought together two of the most sought—after actors of the generation — Zendaya and Robert Pattinson - in a story about a wedding that turns into a disaster. All the details are in the Izvestia article.
The material contains a partial disclosure of the plot of the film.
About the film, creators and actors
"What a drama!" was released in Russia on April 9, 2026. Filming began on October 21, 2024 in the UK, with American episodes filmed in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and several cities in Massachusetts, including Andover. The production also spent $2.9 million on location filming in Louisiana.
The film was written and directed by Kristoffer Borgley. Produced by Ari Astaire, Lars Knudsen and Tyler Campellone under the Square Peg label. The music for the film was written by Daniel Pembertton, and the cinematographer was Arseny Khachaturian. "What a Drama!" is Borgley's fourth feature film and his second English—language project after "Dream Scenario" (2023) starring Nicolas Cage, which was also produced by A24.
"It was difficult to put a genre label on the film. Of course, the name already speaks about the genre, but it is not entirely accurate. It's a comedy, a drama, a romcom, and a dark comedy — all at once, and at the same time neither one nor the other," Borgli said at the premiere of the film.
Zendaya played the role of Emma Harwood, a bookstore clerk from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a bride. Robert Pattinson played Charlie Thompson— a British museum director from London and a fiance.
The film also stars Alana Heim as Rachel, Emma's bridesmaid and best friend; Mamoudou Athie as Mike— Rachel's husband and groom's witness; Haley Gates as Misha, Charlie's colleague; Zoey Winters as Frances, a wedding photographer.
The plot of the film "Drama"
Emma and Charlie are a couple in love on the eve of their wedding. The A24 marketing team made considerable efforts to keep the central secret of the film hidden. Nevertheless, he becomes known in the first 20 minutes: during the game "what's the scariest thing you've done" over dinner with her best friends Mike and Rachel, Emma makes a confession that makes Rachel scream: "Are you serious?!"
It is Rachel who triggers the mechanism of disaster: she suggests playing a game that forces Emma to say her confession out loud. Borgley's fundamental decision is not to turn this moment into an attraction. The film is not about the shock of what you hear, but about how people react to it.: what does this say about them, about their relationship, about whether they are capable of empathy or prefer judgment. The marketing campaign kept the viewer in the dark — but the film itself is in no hurry to answer, offering everyone to figure it out on their own.
Costumes and visual language
The work of costume designer Katina Danabasis in Drama is one of the most finely constructed visual layers of the painting. She chose unisex flannel and interchangeable basic items for Charlie and Emma to make the couple look like one." Some of the clothes were found in second-hand stores for the sake of more "habitable" images. Since the action takes place in Boston, Charlie is dressed in the spirit of the Ivy League: Margaret Howell brand items and vintage Gap wardrobe items. Emma's clothes reflect her character — simple, comfortable.
Special attention should be paid to how the color palette for Emma's image was built. It is based on the book by film critic Patti Bellantoni "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die" ("If there's purple here, someone's going to die"): The color in the heroine's wardrobe directly reflects her mental state in a particular scene. So, in the episode of getting to know Charlie, Emma is wearing a green sweater — "a symbol of mental instability," as Danabasis herself explained.
The choice of this particular book as a reference point is not accidental. Bellantoni is a lecturer at the Conservatory of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, a student of the color theorist Joseph Albers. For 25 years, she has been studying the influence of color on human behavior and has grouped more than 60 films into six primary colors, each of which, according to her concept, triggers very specific emotional states. In this system, green is a "color with a split personality": it simultaneously carries health, vitality, and at the same time poison and decomposition. It is this duality that fits perfectly into Emma's character: a young woman, outwardly prosperous and loving, carries a secret that can destroy everything around her.
Critics' ratings
On the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator, 77% of the 226 reviews are positive. Critics point out that, working with complex subjects, "This is drama!" confidently maintains a balance of tonality — largely due to one of the best works in the careers of Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. On Metacritic, the weighted score was 59 out of 100 based on 50 reviews — "mixed or average reviews".
Deadline's review called The Drama a "darkly funny but explosively honest film," adding that the picture "may not be what you expected, but it's guaranteed to spark a lively discussion on the way out." Pattinson's work has been described as "the best role of his career." The Times wrote that "the wedding apocalypse has rarely been portrayed with such grim insight and acrimonious wit." Zendaya was called "brilliant" in the role of Emma, but referred to only one weakness of the picture — the "terrible name."
The Boston Globe's review stands out among the critical voices: the publication gave the film zero stars. According to the critic, the studio deliberately keeps the viewer in the dark about the essence of the recognition of the main character — and the reason is simple: if he had known in advance what it was about, there might not have been any desire to go to the cinema at all.
The observer spoke out no less harshly. RogerEbert.com . In his reading, the film is a step back: Pattinson's character, the critic believes, does not receive a clear inner development from the script, and the director only designates the psychological, racial and gender contradictions of Emma's image, but does not develop them.
The scandal surrounding the film "Drama"
The day before the premiere, March for Our Lives, an organization founded by survivors of the tragedy at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, Florida, posted a statement on Instagram (owned by Meta, a recognized extremist organization in Russia), warning viewers that the film touches on the topic of school shootings, and calling A24's marketing strategy "deeply out of sync with the reality that the painting touches on."
"The film may be trying to raise real questions about responsibility and change, but the marketing of A24 is not keeping pace with it. When the topic is so serious, especially in the United States, the conversation cannot begin and end on the screen. It must continue in the way the film is presented to the public," the statement said.
The executive director of March for Our Lives, Jacklyn Korin, who herself survived the Parkland shooting, admitted in a conversation with IndieWire that she would not go to the film. Corin added that if A24 expects to spark a discussion, it should organize it itself — with the participation of the director and actors — and show in practice what a serious conversation about gun violence looks like.
On March 24, Medialogia presented on its website a Russian series rating consisting of the 100 most popular projects of the past year. The South Korean thriller "The Squid Game" took the first place with 42,861 points, the second place was taken by the American science fiction series "Stranger Things" (26,572 points), and the third place was taken by the Russian detective "Sled" (20,361 points).
All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
