[Spoilers for The Drama are below. Proceed with caution if you haven’t seen the movie.]
For weeks now, Zendaya and Robert Pattinsonhave been promoting their upcoming film The Drama (out in theaters today), and one question has hung over every appearance they’ve made: what, exactly, is the secret at the center of this movie? For those who have seen the trailer, you know Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert) are a couple about to get married. They are very, very in love. But a week before the wedding, in a very ill-advised drinking game, they reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done to each other. Emma’s secret is so damming that it throws their relationship into chaos. People have been speculating: What secret is so bad that it could bring a wedding to someone who looks like Zendaya to a screeching halt seven days prior?
For what it’s worth, I did not know the secret before seeing the movie, and I think it made the experience watching it in theaters more enjoyable and interesting. That said, it is revealed about a third of the way through the film’s runtime, so it’s not like this is spoiling the ending of the film. More like spoiling the actual premise. Either way, proceed with caution!
What is Emma’s secret?
Emma’s secret is that, when she was younger, she planned—but did not actually follow through with—a school shooting. She tells her friends at the table that she was a lonely kid who moved to a new school and didn’t have any friends. She went down a YouTube rabbit hole about school shooters, and the idea became more appealing to her. She had access to a gun (her father’s). She went into the woods behind her home to practice shooting.
Her friends ask the obvious follow-up, which is, why didn’t you actually do it? She explains that, as her plans progressed, there was actually another mass shooting at a shopping mall in her town. Seeing the kids in her school react to that mass shooting convinced her to alter her plans. In the wake of that incident, the students became pseudo activists, and she joined them in that cause.
What happens the rest of the movie?
Well, I won’t spoil the ending here, but the ramifications of this revelation are major. Charlie begins to wonder whether he actually knows the woman he’s about to marry. Emma wonders if Charlie can ever accept her knowing this truth about her. Their friends wonder they can be friends with them knowing what they know now. Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the week before your wedding, right?
How have people reacted to this?
This premise is quite controversial and will likely be polarizing for viewers. It’s not totally clear how the internet will react to it yet as the film is just hitting theaters, but it’s worth noting that the movie has been condemned by a parentwho lost a child in the Columbine shooting of 1999. But, as with any piece of art or culture, it’s probably best to see it yourself before you form an opinion.
You can catch The Drama in theaters now.