The Drama criticised for ‘sick’ plot twist with no trigger warning after misleading marketing

*Warning: Spoilers for The Drama*

As it hits cinemas today, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s new film The Drama has come under fresh attack for its massive plot twist.

Fans are concerned that the marketing from studio A24, which has leaned heavily into the theme of a wedding to match the status of the engaged couple the A-listers play, is wildly misleading as to the actual topic of the film.

The Los Angeles premiere urged guests to dress as if attending a wedding, while the film was initially rolled out with a ‘save the date’ teaser and a fake engagement announcement in The Boston Globe; there’s even a wedding website to peruse.

But users online have accused A24 of ‘cutiefying’ the movie and said it ‘made them sick’ when they found out The Drama’s full nature – something which has been kept under wraps by a tightly-controlled publicity drive in a bid to avoid spoilers.

Written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, Zendaya and Pattinson play Emma and Charlie, who we meet the week of their wedding as all the final preparations are underway.

But then, as the trailer shows, they get tipsy with pals Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), who introduce the idea of them confessing the worst thing they’ve each ever done ahead of the impending nuptials – but no one is prepared for Emma’s revelation.

For after various and far more mild confessions, Emma reveals that as a lonely and radicalised teen, she planned a school shooting – although ultimately never went through with it, despite preparing in earnest.

Now March For Our Lives, a student-led organisation pushing for firmer gun control legislation in the US, has condemned the film’s marketing as ‘deeply misaligned with the reality it engages’ in a statement on Instagram, adding: ‘We expect better from A24 and the artists behind it.’

It also added a content warning for the theme of the movie, explaining the reason March For Our Lives decided to ‘spoil’ the movie.

The Drama carries no content warning itself for Emma’s secret, although it does begin with a trigger warning for flashing lights.

‘The film may be attempting to engage real questions about accountability and change, but A24’S marketing does not meet it there,’ March For Our Lives continued.

‘With a subject this serious, especially in the US, that conversation cannot begin and end on screen. It has to carry through in how the film is presented.’

‘It is marketed as a cute rom com. I was going to see it. If I had found out this plot point in the theatre I would have walked out,’ commented Victoria Wolk. ‘This is not casual conversation. Now I will not be going to see this.’

‘Bro, it’s about a girl who planned a school shooting? All of the marketing has been like a young adult rom com. Wtf?’ chimed in Ryan, while Erin Smith said that this ‘isn’t even close to what I thought the plot was’ and was ‘so glad this was shared’.

‘Couldn’t agree more. The marketing made us sick when we found out the plot twist,’ added musicians Aly and AJ, while Kacie Riddle didn’t think that ‘bringing a character with this storyline to life is in good taste at all’.

‘I would have been tempted to see this film based on the current marketing. But this content is triggering as hell to me as a mom in this country and I simply don’t want to engage with that,’ wrote LA Beadles. ‘Wow what deceptive marketing. Truly. Disappointed in them.’

Gun reform activist Tom Mauser, who lost his son Daniel in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, has also criticised The Drama, telling TMZ he was ‘disgusted’ at learning what the movie’s twist was and worried Zendaya’s popularity ‘humanises’ shootersand normalises’ the shootings.

However other people defended The Drama’s marketing, arguing it was ‘marketed as dark if you paid attention’.

Indeed, the trailer does heavily suggest that Emma’s secret is truly shocking by the reactions of the other characters, and abruptly cutting out the whimsical music that’s been soundtracking it until now.

‘Are you serious? Emma, what the f**k?’ demands Rachel, while Charlie is shown struggling to speak and Mike decides to order an Uber immediately.

‘I’m confused by everyone that believed that it was marketed as a romantic comedy when the marketing clearly alluded to her doing something that could be deemed unforgivable,’ argued Erika. ‘I thought it was beautiful story about who is loveable and what is forgivable. It also touches on how alienation and bullying in our youth could lead to harm.’

‘I definitely don’t think it was ever labelled as a romantic rom com,’ agreed Emma. ‘And I also don’t think the plot is not [sic.] far off from how a lot of kids may have felt/feel. It brings awareness to the societal context we are raising our children in.’

Others also made the point that art is meant to ‘provoke and spark conversation’, and so while school shootings is a heavy and sensitive topic ‘they’re real and it can’t be ignored’.

Charlotte also recognised that The Drama was in ‘complex territory’, understanding that the movie is likely tackling ‘how this violence affects us all even when we don’t expect it’, but knew that many people would be triggered by this.

The backlash comes after It Ends With Us was embroiled in a similar controversy for failing to acknowledge the underlying theme of domestic violence in any of its trailers, instead implying the movie was a romance.

Its main atagonist Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) is also involved with a traumatic shooting age six.

It was further compounded when producer and star Blake Lively urged fans to ‘grab your friends’ and ‘wear your florals’ to see the film in cinemas, in a social publicity video which was branded tone-deaf.

Based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the same name, readers were at least aware of what they’d be watching ahead of seeing the movie.

A24 is no stranger to criticism for its marketing campaigns, as Celine Song’s Materialists last year, starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, was also pushed as more of a rom-com to audiences.

But it saw fans up in arms with the film’s ending and tone, sparking many debates about the nature of a rom-com, and the decision that Johnson’s matchmaker character Lucy makes in the end – although both are more a matter of personal preference.

Metro has contacted reps at A24 for comment.

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