The Bitter Kitten Movie Club: "The Drama" (2026)
Tom & Lorenzo’s Pop Style Opinionfest
Tom & Lorenzo dive into the 2026 film 'The Drama,' starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, exploring its complex narrative centered on a shoc
Key takeaways
- The film excels in portraying nuanced relationship dynamics and emotional tension, particularly through subtle character moments and editing techniques.
- Zendaya delivers a layered performance that balances vulnerability with defiance, challenging perceptions of her acting range.
Main topics
- Performance analysis of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson
- Ethical dilemmas in relationships involving past trauma
Notable quotes
"I would be like, oh my God, are you okay now? How did you get over this? I wouldn't immediately start calling them a psychopath."
Conclusion
While 'The Drama' is uneven and provocative in its approach to emotional and moral complexity, Tom &
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:22) We're Tom Miller and Zoo. And this is the Bitter Kitten Movie Club. Hello, kittens. Welcome back to another edition of the BKMC, a supplemental edition of the Pop Style Opinion Fest podcast, where we take a look at one film per week and unpack everything we can unpack about it. This week's film is 2026's The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, directed by Christopher Borgly. And, um... We are, I just said to Lorenzo before we flipped on the mics, I said, we're coming into this cold. I have no idea what he thinks of this film and he has no idea what I think of this film. We did watch it together last night and said absolutely nothing to each other after it was done. And I actually felt like I needed to spend a little time with it to come up with, and this conversation is probably going to be a little... Speaker 1 (1:14) I mean, none of our conversations are structured. We're all over the map, and for that, sometimes I feel like I have to apologize. But this is gonna be even less structured because I'm still unpacking what I think about this film. So why don't we go to you? And first off, you did watch this on a... I had not seen it before last night. You watched it on the plane last month? I watched it on the plane when we were heading back from Europe. And so I... Anyway, so that was my second time watching with you That's why I didn't say much when we were watching it because I had already watched so there wasn't much of a reaction, you know first reaction So I thought it was very interesting. The whole thing is interesting and we'll talk about it and It's very much an independent film type of you know, mm-hmm. I Wish I love I also like him very much. I think he's doing a very good job Speaker 1 (2:11) especially lately i think he's good at i'm sorry robert uh pattison i think he's good at doing major productions and also making uh independent films i think he can do both right so i think he's he's doing a good job um he tends to be a little too british uh on camera but it worked here because the character was british so that was fine um and then we have zendaya gorgeous india who can't unfortunately she can't act i'm sorry although i have to say If I had to pick one performance, this would be the one. I don't think she can't act. I think Zendaya is a very career-minded movie star who does not pick roles that challenge her. So I have never seen Zendaya give a performance in a role that challenged her. Everything Zendaya chooses to do, she is very well suited for. And that's... Speaker 1 (3:06) why she's a movie star, but she's not necessarily a great actress. On some level, I might compare her approach to her career with Margot Robbie, who was also very careerist. It's very clear, I'm gonna become a movie star and I'm gonna be very, very rich. And Zendaya's take on her career is like that, although I will say Margot Robbie has taken more risks in what she chooses to do. Zendaya does not. But I don't agree that she's not a good actress. And in fact, I think this was a great example of, you know, she can act. There was subtleties to that performance that I really enjoyed. There were times where I thought she was actually heartbreaking in this role. As I said, if I had to pick one, this would be the movie. I thought she was good in it. You know, there's... Speaker 1 (4:02) The thing is that there's people out there acting, and there are actors, and there are people very good at reading lines. I mean, you know, George Clooney is one big example that he's getting better as he gets old, but he's, for a long time, he was a big nothing. But he's a major star, a major Hollywood, you know, movie star, blah, blah, blah. So there are, she's good. She looks good. I mean, like when she was wearing the wedding gown, I was like, my God, she can wear a dress. I mean, she's perfect on camera. She's gorgeous. I think there's a bit more to her than that. Yeah, anyway, but I do want to emphasize that I thought she was very good in this movie. All right, so what did you think of the premise, the story? It was interesting because, you know, as usually, we post previews on our site, and after we posted the preview about this movie, everyone was talking about what, you know... Speaker 1 (4:55) the big twist and blah, blah, blah. And then everybody watched the movie, saw the movie, and then started talking about it. And people are very divided about it. And it's interesting to read all the stuff out there about it. I am kind of divided too. You know, like, I don't know. It's interesting. Would I drop the person if I found out that, you know, she wanted to kill the whole school? I... Probably yes. Before marriage. I think there's, you know, but... I don't think... I don't know. The film... All right, let me give my thoughts on the film, if you don't mind. No, go ahead. I enjoyed the film. I actually did enjoy the film. There were moments, there were points in the film where I was like, all right, this is getting tedious. Although I do think that was literally... Speaker 1 (5:49) the... I mean, that was the point. It was supposed to get cringey and tedious and almost difficult to watch at times. Um... The sense of... Like, everything that... All the scenes that take place at the wedding are just... The vibes are so rancid in that whole section of the film. And to me, I was like, this is really good directing because I feel like I am at a terrible, terrible wedding right now. Right. Which is, as an audience member, uncomfortable. Speaker 1 (6:27) So there was a lot about the film that I really kind of enjoyed. Like, I thought there was interesting choices in the editing, parts of it that were just funny, parts of it that were heartbreaking. Like, that scene the next morning where she gets up and she's waiting to see what his reaction is and she keeps imagining all these happy reactions that he's gonna have. And to me, that's just heartbreaking. And not to... I mean, whatever. I don't think I'm giving anything away, but... Speaker 1 (6:57) When you're in a relationship and you're weathering something bad and you're waiting for the other person to let you know how they feel and you're just imagining all these happy, it's just gonna be fine, it's gonna be fine, and then they're not fine. Right. I think the movie's... That is just a hard-ass thing to deal with in a relationship, and I thought the film did a great job of depicting that. I thought it also did a great job of depicting... a relationship that