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THE DRAMA a24 Movie part 1
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00:10That's Nick and that's Joseph and today we're here to talk about The Drama, the fourth film directed by Christopher
00:16Borbley, which A24 is releasing April 3rd, 2026.
00:20Do you know this director's other films?
00:22Yes, we reviewed Sick of Myself and Dream Scenario.
00:27Nice. What is The Drama about?
00:29A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
00:36What is your pull quote?
00:37Christopher Borbley returns with another heightened exercise on our implicit obsession and socially codified need to control the narrative of
00:44how we are perceived,
00:45while also examining how humans are constantly compromised by the performative hypocrisy we're all confronted with.
00:52Mmm, mine.
00:54Provocative, bold, and uncomfortably comedic, the drama tackles a hot-button issue with striking nuance.
01:01I agree. I quite liked this film.
01:05It's difficult to talk about this movie without completely spoiling it.
01:08But to start, the basic story is Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, Charlie and Emma, play a couple who are engaged
01:16to be married.
01:17And there's about a week left before the date when they are at the caterers finalizing the menu with their
01:26maid of honor and best man.
01:28Rachel, played by Alana Haim, and Mike, played by Mamadou Aceh.
01:32So they're having a good time drinking when someone brings up, tell me what's the worst thing you've ever done.
01:39They proceed to go around the room and they end with Zendaya, who shares something pretty extreme.
01:45And thus begins this journey of a week for the two of them deciding how they want to move forward
01:51because the groom, Robert Pattinson, is unnerved and the bride, Zendaya, is questioning their future.
02:00I don't think it's a spoiler because the movie poster shows them in their wedding attire, so they ultimately do
02:06get married the end.
02:09Yes, but so much more.
02:11I mean, there are hot-button issues here.
02:14I think Borghli, based on his previous two films, if you remember them, is kind of a provocateur.
02:20I think this might be a love-it-or-hate-it thing, and I think the hate or dislike for
02:25it will be a performative aspect to that, much like the Alana Haim character.
02:31And we will get into the discussion of that.
02:33Particularly, I really want to explicate the scene where there is this big reveal because I think there's a lot
02:38going on there that I think is quite well done.
02:41I want to bring up the meet-cute at the beginning in this coffee shop is Robert Pattinson, who is
02:47playing a British person, which I think is integral to this as well because I think perspective has a lot
02:54to do with how everything is unfolding in this scenario.
02:57He approaches Zendaya, who's reading this book, and we get a close-up of it.
03:00It's called The Damage by Harper Ellison, and that's a made-up book and a made-up author.
03:06Borghli has said his next film might be called The Damage, potentially.
03:10I think there's some interesting things going on with that in multiple ways because Emma is the damage.
03:16She's a damaged person, which we can also get into a little bit.
03:19But I find that name interesting, Harper Ellison, because that is a collapsing of two very distinct authors, in my
03:28mind, Harlan Ellison and Harper Lee.
03:30And Harlan Ellison, if you're not familiar with him, was a very confrontational author and also kind of was examining
03:38in a lot of his works of moral ambiguity.
03:40While Harper Lee is best known, of course, for To Kill a Mockingbird, which is a novel about moral certitude
03:47and also interesting because that is a white perspective of racial dynamics in the U.S.
03:53So I think all of those kind of interesting things are swirling around there.
03:56So I was really disappointed when I was trying to look up more information about The Damage.
04:00I came across the critique published on RogerEbert.com saying this film is smugly juvenile, and I couldn't agree less.
04:09And also suggesting that Zendaya is colorblind casting, and that's why she's so superficial as a characterization.
04:17And I don't think I like Zendaya's performance.
04:19Anyway, we can get into it.
04:21But I think that people are going to be dismissive about it because it's uncomfortable.
04:25So the situation at the caterer, everyone's explaining the worst thing they've ever done.
04:29It starts, and we will have to dissect this because I think this scene is so interesting.
04:33The maid of honor who is married to the best man says, oh, I know the worst thing he's ever
04:38done.
04:39And he's saying, please don't say it.
04:40Like, please don't.
04:41And she forces the issue.
04:43And he explains that he was on a trip to Mexico with an ex.
04:48They had had a fight.
04:49They weren't getting along.
04:50On their way back to their hotel, they were attacked by a rabid dog.
04:55And he basically used his ex as a shield.
04:57So she was mauled and he wasn't.
05:00Or it's even maybe a little more ambiguous is he didn't act.
05:03And that also questions his masculinity.
05:06The maid of honor explains that when she was younger, there was a neighbor boy who seemed
05:13to have special needs, who she portrayed as being kind of weird and unsavory, who asked
05:18her to come play and took her out to this faraway field.
05:22And while they were out there, she locked him in a shed and left.
05:26So this kid spent the night in the shed.
05:29The next day, there was a mass search.
05:31The father of the boy even came to her and said, do you know anything about where my
05:34son is?
05:35And she said, no.
05:36And then ultimately says, well, he was fine because he's alive.
05:40OK.
05:40Robert Pattinson says the worst thing he's ever done is when he was in high school, he cyber
05:45bullied a kid so badly that he had to leave the school.
05:48And ultimately, the family moved away.
05:50Or so he thinks.
05:51The entire time, Zendaya's character is looking like, please, do not call I'll be.
05:57She's been drinking.
05:58So she decides to maybe overshare.
06:02She should have kept this to herself, I think.
06:04But she decides to tell everyone that she had planned a mass shooting when she was in
06:08high school, but of course didn't do it.
06:10And immediately, the vibe changes.
06:13The maid of honor is extremely upset, citing that her cousin, who we find out she's not
06:18even that close to, is in a wheelchair because of gun violence.
06:22She survived a shooting.
06:23So she's appalled.
06:25The best man is trying to deescalate Robert Pattinson.
06:28The groom is concerned, but also kind of playing it off.
06:33It seems like he's not even sure if this is a true story.
06:36And I just found it all so interesting because the ways Zendaya's character is vilified.
06:41I feel like if we break it all down, what the other three did to me is worse because they
06:47actually acted out these things.
06:49What concerned me is that no one thought to ask her immediately, like, wow, you must have
06:54been going through a lot.
06:55What was the context?
06:57There was this immediate sort of performance of outrage that escalates because the maid of
07:03honor wants to go no contact, doesn't want to even attend the wedding.
07:07But the main focus is Robert Pattinson's character trying to process what he's just learned with
07:14the fact that their wedding date is a week away.
07:16So they still have all these obligations, like they have to go finalize the floral arrangements.
07:21They have to go to the photographer to approve the shot list.
07:25So they're having to work through this while not really being sure if the wedding should
07:29happen.
07:29Yes, the processing is significant as, you know, I agree that it should be.
07:35But in that scene of those four people, I think we have a male versus female thing going
07:39on.
07:40I think we have white versus black.
07:41I think we have inaction versus action because Alana Haim is the real culprit here.
07:48She puts her husband out on blast.
07:50And if the context with which he explained himself is the relationship was already ending.
07:54He basically let this, his ex-girlfriend get bitten by a dog.
07:57And I would suggest that his is a crime of inaction and that Zendaya's is also, she planned
08:06it.
08:06She got to a certain point, but she didn't do anything.
08:09There was, there was inaction involved while both white people did something, they acted on
08:15something.
08:15They made a decision that was harmful to someone else.
08:18And then excuse themselves by saying it wasn't as bad because of, or I potentially, my actions
08:25didn't cause that effect on the person.
08:28Yeah, it's a very complex situation that I thought was handled very well.
08:33There are a lot of surrealist moments where we see either Zendaya or Robert Pattinson imagining
08:40how things could go or what things must have been like that in some other films seem distracting
08:47like filler, but in this one, I thought it was very clear that what we're seeing is a representation
08:51of their fears and emotions.
08:53I thought it was excellent.
08:54Yes.
08:55Cause we start seeing Zendaya's, you know, triggered by this as well, Emma, and we're
09:00seeing flashbacks of her teenage self going through this.
09:05And then also Charlie is, I was kind of touched by him imagining walking hand in hand with the
09:13troubled teenage version of Emma and what that felt like.
09:18And I don't know.
09:19I found that all very compelling and interesting and very human.
09:23I was thinking of the cell, the Jennifer Lopez movie and how they have this VR simulation where
09:28they go into the mind of a serial killer and her character gets background on this person's
09:32childhood, which of course it doesn't explain the horrific crimes this character commits, but
09:37it gives context.
09:38And I was thinking about that in this movie because while her character didn't act on
09:42them, we do spend quite a bit of time understanding her background.
09:46She's a military brat.
09:48She spent a lot of time alone in a cabin out in the woods.
09:52She was bullied heavily at school, didn't have friends.
09:56And then we live in the United States where gun violence is rampant and there's this constant
10:01debate that never makes any traction.
10:04So it seems like the perfect storm for these kinds of things to happen and plot twist, they
10:08do happen all the time.
10:11So understanding her perspective, I didn't think it was so out of this world to learn
10:17that this teenager considered doing something like that, especially when we find out why
10:22she didn't do it.
10:24Because there was another incident that happened that kind of took the wind out of her sails.
10:28There was a shooting at a mall near the school she goes to and one of the students was
10:33killed and they have some grief exercises.
10:36She gets very emotional, clearly, because she's thinking, I might have done something
10:40like this.
10:41And there is a boy in class who is drawn to her, hearing her talk about, because the teacher
10:47explains something about how there are no female mass shooters.
10:51But of course, Zendaya's character has done a lot of research.
10:54So she says, actually, no, this person, this person.
10:57And she has facts and it draws the attention of this boy who approaches her and says, hey,
11:03you seem to know a lot about gun violence.
11:05Do you want to join this anti-gun group at school?
11:08Which we need to get to some of the uncomfortably comedic moments.
11:11But she decides to do it.
11:14And it's there she finds community, kindness, and purpose.
11:18And because of that, she realizes that what she was planning is not something she should
11:23do or wants to do.
11:24And then seems to have florists.
11:26We don't learn a lot about who she has become as an adult.
11:30But I think this is about an ethical and moral dilemma.
11:34And it's, I think, as all of Borgley's films to date have been about human behavior,
11:38ultimately.
11:39So I actually don't mind that some of the characterization is arguably one-dimensional.
11:44In fact, I think this would have been a great exercise where, you know, those Taylor and
11:49Burton had one of these.
11:50It's called Divorce His, Divorce Hers.
11:52And there's the disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, where the same dissolution of a marriage, you
11:57see it from both perspectives.
11:58I would have loved to see somebody like Ania DaCosta after doing The Bone Temple, also tackling
12:04something like this, but completely from Emma's perspective.
12:07I think that would have been fascinating.
12:10Talking about action and inaction, in the case of the other three, they all hurt others.
12:16But in Zendaya's case, while she didn't commit the mass shooting, she injured herself.
12:21Her character is deaf in one ear.
12:23And it's because as she was initially practicing rifle shooting, she held the gun too close to
12:28her ear and it went off and caused some sort of injury that resulted in her being deaf.
12:33And it's interesting because that deafness is a reminder, a constant reminder of what
12:39she might've done.
12:40And we see that she has severe anxiety related to the topic.
12:44Once it's out in the air, early on, every time her fiance, Robert Pattinson, brings it
12:50up, she becomes physically ill.
12:53So while these four actions are very different in like their gravity, I think if you really
12:59look at the net result, her character seems to have learned the most.
13:03Yes.
13:04And Zendaya's performance, I might add, I think she's imbued with that.
13:07She seems kind of, she's just constantly wounded.
13:10She's on the defensive once she's been made completely vulnerable.
13:14And I'd like to add, going back to the damage, the book she's reading, that Robert Pattinson's
13:19character pretends to have read, which he hasn't.
13:22He's trying to speak in her deaf ear and he doesn't know it.
13:24And I think this is also a film about communication.
13:27And I think that's metaphorical for the distance between couples.
13:32And also just because you're saying something doesn't mean the other one can hear it.
13:37And I also think there's a difference between she's reading a book that he's never read and
13:43he is referencing films in more ways than one that she hasn't seen.
13:47So I think there's also a difference between learning styles and what that means, the isolation
13:52of reading versus the community of a visual art that is filmmaking.
13:57He references a Louis Malle film from 1974 called Le Combe Lucien based on her story about
14:04she was going to commit a school shooting, but instead becomes an anti-gun proponent.
14:09He's like, oh, you're like the kid in that movie who, because he can't be part of the
14:13French resistance, becomes a Nazi.
14:15I might also like to add that's kind of like Deborah Kerr in I See a Dark Stranger, where
14:19her hatred of the British, because she's Irish, leads her to also become a Nazi.
14:24So yes, this is about where are we finding purpose?
14:28And I think Emma reminds me of those characters.
14:32And again, not to condone violence.
14:35And it's interesting that this is coming from an outsider, this Norwegian director.
14:38This is a white male heteronormative perspective that we're really kind of latching onto because
14:45Charlie is our conduit into this.
14:48And I think it's really interesting as a conversation piece at the very least.
14:53The other film that came up to me is not mentioned by name, but in his apartment, Charlie has a
14:59beautiful poster of Ingmar Bergman's The Passion of Anna, which I had never seen, but watched
15:05in preparation for talking about this because that is also, it's part of his thematic island
15:11trilogy, but it's also about two people, Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman, and another couple
15:16played by Erlen Josephson and B.B.
15:18Anderson, who kind of have this similar toxic dynamic.
15:22And there's a scene where the four of them are sitting together, which has to be something
15:26that Borgly is referencing here.
15:28But the two central characters, one's divorced and one accidentally killed her previous husband,
15:34come together in a toxic romance.
15:36But I was laughing at Liv Ullman saying about her dead husband, we lived in harmony by being
15:41truthful, which we know is not the truth because we were reading letters from her ex-husband.
15:44But so this is, in a way, I could suggest that this is a 21st century version of Bergman that
15:52we're getting with these troubled relationships here.
15:56Before Zendaya's character's truth is revealed, we get a couple of scenes I found interesting.
16:01One is they are practicing for their wedding dance.
16:05And it's like your standard ballroom type situation, and Robert Pattinson's having a difficult time
16:11with the choreography.
16:12So Zendaya suggests they go off script and just dance to a song that she likes to play
16:18when he gets upset.
16:20So she seems very adaptive, accepting.
16:24We also see, as they're leaving, Robert Pattinson's character notices the DJ they hired for the
16:30reception is on the corner, and he's convinced she's smoking heroin.
16:34When Zendaya goes to take a look and tries to make excuses for her, how it might not be what
16:40they think, and even if it is, does that really affect her ability to perform?
16:45So we get a sense that she is quite forgiving and understanding in a way that's probably a
16:51function of the transition she went through in her teenage years.
16:54Wow, what she's learned about herself.
16:56And also realizing that you don't have all the facts all the time.
16:59I was also really struck with the performative nature of how people act appalled by certain
17:05things, even in how people are talking about this film.
17:09And I noticed that a lot in video comments.
17:12Because if people aren't aware, I can see all the comments they leave.
17:16So the consistency in which people will be really excited about movies that are ultra-violent,
17:22gory, violence against women, sexual assault.
17:25Like, they love these movies.
17:26And then you'll see a comment like, I can't watch this because a CGI pigeon was harmed.
17:32And I just think it's very interesting where people's moral compass goes.
17:37Yes, and also the kind of violence that we condone is appropriate to witness, or the kind
17:41of subjects, the kind of context.
17:43Because already the drama has been met with vitriol because of people suggesting that it's
17:50humanizing a school shooter.
17:52But it's not.
17:53People have these dark, violent thoughts.
17:56And it's exactly because we stick our heads in the sand and don't want to deal with it
17:59that this shit keeps happening.
18:01I mean, we have to deal with human behavior.
18:04Well, that's what I was trying to say, is I think the maid of honor, her disgust, feels
18:10so misguided because she hasn't even atoned for the horrific things she did.
18:15No.
18:16All I kept thinking is how traumatized that young boy probably was.
18:20Because we also find out that, and she's very flippant about it.
18:23She's like, well, I don't know.
18:24He never told anyone.
18:25Like, no one ever asked me.
18:27It's like, well, he's probably scared of you.
18:29Right.
18:29So it's interesting.
18:31And I think that's something that we see in everyday life, that people don't take accountability
18:35for their own actions, but then will condemn others.
18:38Also, that we are all kind of contradictory in some way.
18:42And being alive, being human as you age and hopefully gain some kind of wisdom is recognizing
18:48those contradictions within yourself.
18:51To go back to the passion of Anna and that Liv Ullman comment that I made is her whole
18:56thing is that character Anna in that film is constantly in search of the truth.
19:00But then we know she's lying because when everything around her, as Liv Ullman says in the film,
19:07when there's that dissonance, she ends up starting to lie so that that matches the inside
19:12versus the outside.
19:13But nobody can see her inside, so we can't see that we're all mismatched.
19:16To me, that's fascinating.
19:19It's a really interesting experience to watch these two people try to manage this sort of
19:24devastating realization while having these comedic moments.
19:27One of them is when they go to the photographer to approve the shot list.
19:33And at this point, things are really tense between the couple.
19:36The photographer is explaining what they intend to do.
19:40And she's framing it like, I'll shoot you this way.
19:43I'll shoot you that way.
19:44So a lot of play on the idea of shooting.
19:46Then I'm going to shoot your parents.
19:47Then I'm going to shoot your grandparents.
19:49Speaking of that, Robert Pattinson's character appears to be a curator at a museum.
19:53And we see on his desk, he has been sent a book that features photography of women holding
20:00guns.
20:00It's almost like a fashion magazine.
20:02It's a fashion fetish.
20:03Yeah.
20:04And I thought that was so interesting because the reality is gun violence is everywhere.
20:10And the way everyone's reacting is if like, this is something that happens once in a generation.
20:15So the blindness to something that's ever present and then being unwilling to try to talk through
20:22it is very, it felt very authentic.
20:24Yes, because the willingness with which people engage is a sort of a platitude for the most
20:30part.
20:30Another darkly comedic moment is Charlie asks Emma, how far did you go?
20:35We immediately cut to a flashback of her in her room making her manifesto video holding the
20:42gun, which is disturbing.
20:45But while that's happening, on her computer, it's stopping the cam to force an update, which
20:52happens more than once.
20:53I'm sure there are people who are going to be very bothered by this, which I think is
20:58interesting because it mimics the maid of honor and her behavior.
21:01I agree.
21:02Because I, I mean, did you interpret her as representing this performative outrage?
21:07Yes, I, it's okay to be outraged, but that doesn't mean you have the privilege to be dismissive.
21:13I mean, this is a, cinema is art.
21:16This is a safe way, if you will, to examine the shit that happens.
21:22Because there's a really interesting scene when Charlie goes to the maid of honor and
21:28the best man to ask them, will you please still come?
21:31Like you can't just drop out last minute.
21:32And the maid of honor says, well, I'm meeting with my cousin in the wheelchair to make sure
21:37she's okay with it because I don't want to disrespect her.
21:40And then we see Charlie approach that woman on the street as she's approaching the building.
21:45And we find out that the cousins are not that close.
21:48The cousin doesn't know the people getting married.
21:50So why would she care if she goes to the wedding?
21:53And of course, at that point, Robert Pattinson's trying to, Charlie is trying to convince this
21:57woman that Emma, Zendaya, is a good person, even though she's never met her.
22:03And that's when you start to understand that it seems like his character is going to be
22:08able to get past this.
22:10But that was another thing I wanted to mention regarding communication, because I think a
22:15lot of us enter relationships off of a feeling.
22:19But you really don't know people until you spend time and actually dig in.
22:23And I thought this film also did a really good job of showing how it is scary to enter a
22:29life with someone and not really know them.
22:32Well, initially, we're all putting our best foot forward and we're following cues and,
22:38you know, downplaying some behaviors that you might think will get you anywhere with
22:43that person because you want to be a certain version of yourself to keep this person interested.
22:47But of course, we are all layered people with lots of things that have happened to us that
22:52maybe we have never processed, depending on where you are in your life, how old you are,
22:55et cetera.
22:56I mean, it's amazing that anybody stays together based on all of that.
23:02So, yeah, I think that's really interesting.
23:04I also found it interesting that we get a scene initially where the morning after the reveal
23:09has happened, where Mike, Mamadou Chase character, he tells Robert Pattinson to get on a plane back
23:13to Britain and leave that crazy lady.
23:16Did you think that was real or one of those sort of surrealist moments?
23:20I thought that was supposed to be real because how Mamadou's character is also, he's, it's
23:26interesting because the gender stereotypes are reversed with Mamadou Chase and Zendaya.
23:33Like, she's seen as being aggressive.
23:34We get flashback.
23:35I also thought that was interesting because in our conversation after the screening last
23:39night, how you reinterpret someone's behavior when more information is revealed.
23:45And that's why Pattinson is having all these recollections of when Zendaya is maybe acting
23:50aggressive.
23:51But the moments we get, I don't think she's being aggressive.
23:54They're in a crosswalk and some taxi cab almost hits them and she stands up for herself.
23:58To me, that's what, whatever she planned as a teenager, that is what that woman is doing
24:02in that scenario, in my mind.
24:04But he's choosing to use that as like, oh, maybe she has anger management issues.
24:08I think that's valid because, listen, when people show you who they are, believe them.
24:13He also recalls a time when she's being very rough during sex.
24:16I think it's very reasonable for him to assume that maybe she is a violent person.
24:20I think that it has all to do with communication and being afraid to seem unsavory when you first
24:28enter in a relationship with somebody.
24:29I mean, that's how, like, I wouldn't reference Ingmar Bergman's scenes for a marriage because
24:33this is like prenuptial bullshit that goes on.
24:36And it's distressing.
24:39For me, watching this triggered a different kind of emotion because at one point, you know,
24:44they're mired in trying to work through this knowledge that Charlie has received.
24:50And Zendaya says, she points out, like, you have a, you fixate on things.
24:55You become obsessed and consumed.
24:56And that's maybe a fault for Charlie.
24:58But she brings up this exercise that's maybe, let's start again.
25:02Let's start over again.
25:03Which I think anybody that's been in a long-term relationship maybe has tried something like
25:06this.
25:07And then that is mimicked in the final scene of the film, which was a scene that actually
25:11did bring tears to my eyes because it's about forgiveness and grace.
25:16The turning point for Charlie, I think, is he's at work one day and he decides to confide
25:23in a way with his co-worker, Misha.
25:26Oh, yeah.
25:26Haley Gates, who's also in A24's The Moment.
25:29He straight up asks her, what's the worst thing you've ever done?
25:32And she recounts a story of cheating on a boyfriend she had who was a really nice guy
25:36and she regretted it.
25:37And then he asks her, what would you do if your current boyfriend planned a school shooting?
25:41So basically trying to set up the same scenario.
25:44And she says, call the cops.
25:47Call the cops.
25:48This person's clearly a psychopath.
25:50Charlie gets upset, like kicks a chair and leaves the room.
25:54She follows him into his office.
25:56He starts crying.
25:57She tries to console him.
25:58They start kissing.
26:00He turns her around like they're going to take sex further when he realizes this is wrong.
26:05He also, I'd say, aggressively rips her shirt.
26:07Can I add that Misha's story about cheating is also on the guy she cheated on was super nice.
26:14And she cheated on him with his married friend that treated her like shit.
26:18Again, contradictions.
26:19The wedding is tense.
26:21The maid of honor decides to show up, but she's not acting right.
26:24As the audience, we feel tension because Misha is there with her boyfriend.
26:28And we know that there was something that happened recently with the groom and her.
26:32The bride's father gives a speech, which was very well done because he talks about Zendaya
26:40being such a kind, empathetic person.
26:42He even brings up the fact that she belonged to this anti-gun group.
26:47And we have the maid of honor in the back groaning.
26:49We get the maid of honor speech, which is super awkward.
26:52It's very charged and you'll be uncomfortable.
26:55They take a break.
26:56Zendaya goes to the restroom and she overhears Misha talking about a school shooting.
27:01So she's convinced that someone has spread that information.
27:05And she believes it's Rachel.
27:06So she finds her man, tells him, go get that lady so I can confront her.
27:12He won't do it.
27:13So she grabs her.
27:14So now Charlie, Emma and Misha are in a room.
27:18And Misha, of course, assumes that the bride wants to confront her about potentially having
27:23sex with her man two days ago.
27:24So Misha just blurts it out, which, of course, creates a new batch of problems because Emma
27:31did not know that.
27:32And I really connected with that moment because the two have said and done things they regret.
27:38But now that Charlie has done something that he actually took action on, like it's a tangible
27:43thing that he did that he shouldn't have done.
27:44He now feels that regret.
27:46Yeah.
27:47And of course, he's running through the excuses of why he did it.
27:50He was feeling vulnerable and I didn't mean for it to happen.
27:53But things escalate because when he's giving his speech, he just breaks down.
28:00And a really funny moment at the beginning of the film is he's writing his speech and
28:04sharing it with his best man.
28:05And the best man is like, don't say that.
28:06Don't say that.
28:07Because he wants to talk about how Emma's laugh is repulsive, but it's really cute.
28:12And we hear her laugh.
28:13It is really cute.
28:13He also wants to mention how great their sex is.
28:16And the best man's like, do not say that in front of the family.
28:19But Charlie goes off script and says all of that.
28:22It's super uncomfortable.
28:23And then at a point starts yelling at the crowd.
28:27It's revealed that he didn't mean to be sexual with Misha.
28:30Misha's boyfriend gets up and assaults Charlie.
28:33So then the reception's over.
28:35Yes.
28:35We cut to Charlie back at home.
28:38He can't get in contact with his new bride.
28:41And might I add, it's Rachel and Charlie.
28:43They're the ones that betray the confidence of their partners.
28:46Yeah.
28:47And with those secrets.
28:48And that's where them betraying the confidence of their partners is the ripple effect that
28:52spirals and compounds everything and makes it worse.
28:55That's what I think is so interesting.
28:56Because the net result of what everyone did, I feel like the one who thought about the mass
29:02shooting feels like the least problematic of the group to me.
29:07Yes.
29:07Like if you remove that a mass shooting is a horrific thing.
29:11Because it...
29:12But it didn't happen.
29:13And it also made me think that this is the importance of allowing people to share their
29:18feelings so that they can process them.
29:20If we don't let people share and we just condemn them or judge them, then how will healing occur?
29:26How will people learn that maybe they're not going to make the best choice?
29:29It doesn't.
29:30That's why we're in the Orwellian doublespeak bullshit we're in today.
29:33But before the drama started, Emma had said to Charlie, maybe we should, after the reception,
29:40go to our favorite diner.
29:41You know, how like celebrities do after they win an Oscar.
29:44And Charlie seems kind of...
29:46He doesn't seem enthusiastic about it.
29:47But in the end, when he's sitting at home unable to get in touch with his wife and he's
29:51bloodied, he decides to go to the diner with the hope that maybe she'll show up and
29:56that's the olive branch he needs.
29:58And she does.
29:59And like you mentioned, earlier, when she tried the exercise of starting over and reintroduced
30:05themselves to each other, it was Charlie who thought that was a corny idea.
30:09But Emma tries it again at the end in this diner.
30:11It seems like he's willing to start there.
30:14Yes.
30:14Now that he also knows what it's like to be in the doghouse.
30:17I was also reminded of a film we reviewed out of Sundance called Josephine, where it also
30:22took a very sort of like traumatic hot button situation, which is a young girl witnessing
30:28a sexual assault and the resulting sort of trauma it induces.
30:32And I didn't care for that movie because I felt like it was one of those situations like
30:36when you're at a dinner party and maybe there are three couples and then there's the one
30:41single bitch who wants to stir the pot.
30:43Like, what would you do if your man cheated on you?
30:45It's like, girl, what are you doing?
30:47Like, you're just bringing up this thing that's going to agitate everyone.
30:49And then there's no discussion of like how this might actually play out.
30:52And that's why I didn't care for Josephine.
30:55Whereas I think this is very well done because we are having the awkward conversations.
31:00We are processing the feelings.
31:02Well, that's what leads you to be secure about yourself is reflecting with others sometimes
31:08as needed, as necessary.
31:10But oh, and you know, it's no surprise probably that this was produced by Ari Aster.
31:15Oh, I didn't know that.
31:16Yes.
31:16And I'd like to shout out the cinematographer Arseny Kachaturin because I like the look of
31:21the film and Daniel Pemberton, who the composer that worked on Eddington for Ari Aster recently.
31:26Yeah, I think this is clearly a provoking film.
31:29So people that don't want to have to think or deal with, you know, unseemly subjects probably
31:36will turn their heads.
31:37But I think this is exactly the kind of cinema that Americans should be contending with for
31:44sure.
31:44What would you give the drama?
31:47Four.
31:47I think it's pretty spectacular.
31:49I would give it four and a half out of five.
31:51Join us on Patreon and listen to our podcast.
31:53Bye.
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