The Drama Movie Review
WARNING: DISCUSSIONS OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS/ MENTAL HEALTH, DEPICTIONS OF GUNS
The Drama is a complex romance movie. While it had a lot of positives, this movie is in no way a romantic comedy. This movie definitely took me by surprise and had me on the edge of my seat, which is very rare for a movie. This effect works as I wanted to see what would happen next and how the relationship of Charlie and Emma would turn out in the end.
The highlight for me was the score. The score had an eerie/mysterious tone that was able to match the scene that was going on. Something very rare that I see in films is that the actors are able to match the movie score and be able to play on that feeling/tone of the scene and the actors were able to do that in this film. Emma’s reaction when she was finally telling Rachel, Charlie, and Mike the worst thing she’s ever done matched perfectly to the score portraying a mixture of shock, betrayal, and anger. It upped the stakes in the scene and I personally found myself engrossed by the score of the film. Rarely do I credit a score since it doesn’t stand out to me as often when watching a movie, however, that was the purpose of the film. It stripped away all of the glitz and glam by giving us something authentic and stripped down. The climax is where the score gets good and kept me in my seat the whole time.
This movie (spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen it) heavily mentions plans of a school shooting (not acted upon, just planned). The movie does a good job of portraying a real life issue in this country and has the roles reversed by having Emma open up about her struggles as a teenager instead of Charlie. The movie goes into deeper insight of teenage girls and their mental health, particularly in Emma. As much as you want to hate Emma for her “plan” to shoot up her school, the movie explores her past and you can’t help but feel empathy for her. The filmmakers were able to capture the balance between making Emma empathetic and dangerous. Throughout the movie, Charlie begins to see her as the 15 year old that wants to shoot up a school and cannot overlook and slowly cripples into insanity over the news. Emma, meanwhile walks on eggshells with everyone since the news and every little detail she does makes everyone on edge. It’s a little subtle detail but chilling all the same and goes to show how people can look at you differently when you open up about intrusive thoughts that have haunted you ever since.
Rather than the movie glorifying/promoting an ‘anti-gun’ message, which would’ve been cliched. They chose to go all in on the subject and go through multiple angles of how gun violence/gun exposure can affect children transitioning into adulthood and the consequences that come with it (e.g. Emma becoming deaf in one ear). I respect how they come from all angles on the subject. From the bullying that Emma goes through to the females in a magazine that glorify guns, shocking Charlie in the process. They were able to show all angles and not have a pro/anti message, but rather leave the opinions up to the audience and I like that.
Charlie, is a realistic character in how he reacts to the news. We see his struggle of how to handle the wedding while also grappling with the past of Emma. While I respect him for staying at her side the whole time and wanting answers instead of abandoning her, I do wish he was more assertive in his journey. I understand he struggles with what he heard, however he struggles consistently with having an opinion and dances around the issue at times in the movie rather than dive deeper with his own beliefs. Personally, if I was Charlie, I would delay the wedding, discuss the issues privately, and then decide whether or not I could still marry the person I fell in love with despite having a dark past. Chare wasn’t assertive but was willing to learn and stick by Emma, which I respect. Except the part where he has an impulsive tryst with his coworker, which he stops instantly. That made me shocked because I saw him as loyal and the fact that he would betray Emma like this when she was honest with him, making it difficult for me to root for him.
The one thing I dislike about the film is Rachel. The character Rachel wasn’t necessary. She was two-faced and a hypocrite the whole time. Now, where credit is due, the actress did an incredible job with portraying such a negative individual, I do wish we got some development with her character and slowly begin to assess her beliefs and try to meet Emma halfway. Unfortunately, we do see people like this all the time: willing to point out other people’s flaws and judge them for their past while disregarding their own shortcomings. Her whole character was judgemental and negative, but it did give me some satisfaction that her husband, Mike was able to call her out when she was becoming negative. Not many times do I see people call out their partners in films so to see that was refreshing.
While this film is a must-watch, know your trigger warnings as it spends a good chunk of the film discussing gun violence/school shootings. Some of the imagery is disturbing, won’t spoil it here as you should see it for yourself. However, the takeaway of the film was to challenge our beliefs and if love really can conquer all. If the roles were reversed, would we still love Charlie for his honesty or would we still see him as a potential shooter. Either way, this film will make you think. Take this as a warning, this is not a typical romance film! If you do see it, you’ve been warned