From the filmmaker's personal life to his movie's big twist, here's why everyone's talking about A24's latest controversial release. What's all the drama behind Robert Pattinson and Zendaya's The Drama? From the filmmaker's personal life to his movie's big twist, here's why everyone's talking about A24's latest controversial release. By Mike Miller Mike Miller Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writerreporter for PEOPLE and TMZ. EW's editorial guidelines April 4, 2026 8:00 a.m.

From the filmmaker's personal life to his movie's big twist, here's why everyone's talking about A24's latest controversial release.

What's all the drama behind Robert Pattinson and Zendaya's The Drama?

From the filmmaker's personal life to his movie's big twist, here's why everyone's talking about A24's latest controversial release.

By Mike Miller

Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writer-reporter for PEOPLE and TMZ.

EW's editorial guidelines

April 4, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in 'The Drama'. Credit:

Courtesy of A24

- Zendaya and Robert Pattinson's new A24 movie, *The Drama* (now in theaters), was sparking controversy before it opened.

- In the film, Zendaya's Emma reveals her deepest, darkest secret to her fiancé, which sends their relationship and upcoming wedding into a tailspin.

- Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli is also facing controversy due to a resurfaced essay from his past.

**This article contains spoilers about *The Drama.***

A24's latest is living up to its title.

*The Drama* stars Robert Pattinson and Zendaya as Charlie and Emma, a young couple whose lives and upcoming wedding are thrown into disarray when the latter drunkenly reveals a disturbing secret from her past. Goaded into making the revelation during an ill-advised game of "What's the Worst Thing You've Ever Done?" with friends, the admission forces her fiancé to reconsider their entire relationship, begging questions like: How well do we really know those closest to us? And can love ever be truly unconditional?

With the movie now in theaters, Emma's big secret is officially out in the open, and, as many who saw the movie in advance of its release have guessed, it's already stirring controversy.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson in 'The Drama'.

Courtesy of A24

If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to be spoiled, best to stop reading here!

So, what's the worst thing Emma's ever done? When she was in high school, she planned a school shooting. She didn't go through with it, but for a time, she seriously intended to get back at her bullies by taking her father's rifle to school and massacring her classmates. Looking back, Emma is horrified by her behavior and deeply regrets even considering doing such a thing. She was going through a hard time, she insists, and barely recognizes her former self.

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The criticism

Among the first public voices speaking out against this surprising twist was Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was killed during the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Speaking with TMZ, he called using the subject of school shootings as a plot device "awful" and argued that the casting of Zendaya "humanizes" and "normalizes" prospective shooters.

Mauser also slammed Zendaya's recent appearance on *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*, saying he didn't think she was taking the twist seriously. "Everybody has their own kind of feelings leaving the theater, especially with the big twist," she told Kimmel. "And there's so many conversations that are had after you watch it, and it's just one of those things, I really hope that people don't spoil it for each other so they're allowed to go into it just unknowing and really experience *The Drama*."

"Without revealing anything, I could see this movie causing a lot of problems for a lot of people in their personal lives," Kimmel replied with a grin.

"Yeah, those conversations can go many ways," Zendaya answered, to laughter from the audience. (It's unclear whether Kimmel was referring to those impacted by school shootings or audiences who will, inevitably, ask each other the film's dangerous instigating question: What's the worst thing you've ever done?)

Then on Thursday, the gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives posted a statement to Instagram, spoiling the twist and slamming the film's marketing. "The way this film has been marketed is deeply misaligned with the reality it engages," the group captioned the post. "We expect better from A24 and the artists behind it." While never fully spelled out, the film's marketing and stars noted repeatedly throughout the press run that the film included a dark twist.

So far, critics have been mostly positive in their reviews. The film currently sits at 80 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but its big twist has received its fair share of pushback. Still, those who criticized that plot element seemed less concerned with the revelation itself than with what its director is trying to say by invoking it.

"It's hard to have any idea what* The Drama* is trying to say or do, beyond tease its audience with its lack of specificity," *Time'*s Stephanie Zacharek writes.

In his review for *The New Yorker**, *critic Justin Chang writes, "*The Drama* has a juicy, combustible premise that it struggles to justify, not because there's anything inherently distasteful about broaching the subject of real-world gun violence in the context of a sexy, tempestuous Hollywood melodrama but, rather, because Emma's deep, dark secret simply doesn't ring true."

Zendaya in 'The Drama' (2026).

Perhaps, Chang acknowledges, that's part of the point: Those who knew shooters before their attack often remark that they didn't see it coming. The film also briefly addresses (and dismisses) the gender dynamic at play: Shootings by women (let alone Black women) are exceedingly rare.

That doesn't mean women never contemplate committing violence (and again, Emma never went through with her plan). But does the film do enough to make her motivations feel earned and believable? "The movie's attempts to dramatize her history of near-violence feel perfunctory to the point of incuriosity," Change writes. "It treats her mental-health history not as a complicated reality but as a premise, a narrative impetus, and, worst of all, a problem that seems to weigh more heavily on those around her than it does on her."

The filmmaker

The big twist isn't the only reason *The Drama *is earning that title.

Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (*Dream Scenario*) faced backlash unrelated to the movie's plot after a 2012 essay he wrote defending his relationship with a teenage girl resurfaced online.

In it, the Norwegian filmmaker — who was 27 when the essay was published — reflected on dating a "high school student" who was "10 years younger" than him in Norway, where the legal age of consent is 16.

Robert Pattinson, Kristoffer Borgli, and Zendaya at 'The Drama' Los Angeles premiere.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Borgli wrote that he viewed his "May-December romance" with skepticism, and wanted to "recalibrate [his] moral compass." He noted that he watched films like *Lost in Translation* and *Ghost World*, which depict older men dating teen girls, and that Woody Allen's film *Manhattan* "completely changed" his attitude toward his own situation.

While the film doesn't offer commentary on this taboo subject, it does bring to mind the game that prompts Emma's confession: "What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

Perhaps some questions are best left unanswered.

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Published: April 4, 2026 at 03:00PM on Source: PRIME TIME

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