Warning: This story contains spoilers.
To go see “The Drama,” the new flick starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, may feel like sitting down to a romantic comedy.
The film’s marketing revolves heavily around the idea of a gorgeous wedding, surrounded by loved ones, until Emma (Zendaya) reveals a secret a few days before she and Charlie (Pattinson) are set to get married: When she was 15, she planned to carry out a school shooting. After another mass shooting happens the same day, though, Emma doesn’t go through with it.
Studio A24 is coy about the big secret in all of its promotional materials, and viewers are given no forewarning as they settle into their seats about the subject matter that is about to play out onscreen. The trailer suggests Zendaya committed a serious faux pas — but one that might simply reflect a quirk of her personality.
The only way a moviegoer would know about the big twist is if they saw spoilers online, where critics have congregated to question the movie’s whole premise.
