Blazy or Lazy: ‘The Drama’ Trailer

BREAKDOWN

Story Hook: What Zennial can resist Zendaya? Or Robert Pattinson, for that matter? Pair them up in a romance where a 30-year-old falls in love for the first time—and make it dark comedy. Sounds juicy. But what’s the story really? Aside from a cringey rip-off of the “bend and snap,” the trailer buries the emotional hook under a forced mystery. She confesses “the worst thing” she’s ever done right before the wedding, but we’re not told what it is. The setup aims for intrigue, but lands as gimmick.

Visual Impact: With its moody color grading, stylized staging and awkward intimacy, The Drama reads like a relationship drama but hums with the snark of a modern satire. It seems to toy with the earnest tropes of classics like Falling in Love—not quite homage, not quite mockery—as it tries to build a bridge between old-school heartache and Zennial absurdity.

Performance Promises: Honestly, Alana Haim looks like she’s the best part of this thing. She has a way of elevating whatever she’s in, and from what’s here, this movie might suffer without her.

Pertinents: The Drama stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamoudou Athie, Hailey Benton Gates and is written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Verdict: This trailer is banking on mystery, not chemistry. The setup—Zendaya’s character finally falling in love at 30—could’ve been compelling, but the trailer withholds the actual hook in favor of vague tension and one too many winks. What’s this terrible secret? Why does it matter? Instead of giving us something to feel, it gives us something to guess. And not in a fun way. Pattinson broods. Zendaya simmers. But without knowing what we’re watching them unravel over, it feels like a relationship drama trapped in a satire’s body—and not entirely in on the joke.