Cert - 15, Run-time - 1 hour 45 minutes

Director - Kristoffer Borgli

AFTER discussing the worst thing they've done, Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie's (Robert Pattinson) imminent wedding is thrown into turmoil when tensions rise from Emma's dark confession.

Rarely have I been as tense laughing than during The Drama. The tensions arise in the central relationship between Emma and Charlie. Trying out potential wines and dishes for their wedding at the end of the week, alongside married friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim), the four start discussing the worst things they've ever done.

Emma awkwardly sits, forcing reactions while the back of her mind worries about her eventual turn. By the end of her story the tone has dramatically changed. Friendly, if awkward and regretful, humour turns to shock and anger at Emma's past. Tensions rise from the return home to the end of the week. Charlie wants to know more, unsure of if he sees his fiancée as the same person, while she's reluctant to revisit this part of her past (successfully left veiled by the marketing).

Instead of jumping back into humour after the reveal, writer-director Kristoffer Borgli channels the darker tones of previous feature Dream Scenario. A wall is put up between the central pair, one they both stare directly at but hope there could be some way around. Zendaya and Pattinson are on terrific form, particularly the former with a layered, full-force performance.

Interactions in their joint and separate lives are thick with unease. It flows from the screen, escalating to the point where you want to cover your eyes or stop from gasping at certain lines of dialogue. There are still plenty of chuckles to be found, captured with a slight coldness from Borgli's Scandi roots, which come through in the occasionally distanced isolation of some of his shots.

The cuteness of the opening meet-cute and relationship-so-far, detailed as the pair go over their respective speeches, fade with a lingering darkness that hangs over the film. Brought through in dramatic flashes of who Emma could now be in Charlie's eyes, which we see in quickly-shifting visions and flashbacks. The balance is well handled through the editing which adds to the sharpness and, as the film points out, a slight look at a wider America, although not becoming a broad, reflective film.

Pacing varies throughout from the gradual table discussion that kicks everything off and the excruciating events of the wedding day itself to more frequent beats and flashes of uncertainty and regret. All comes together evenly in a sharply written screenplay and focused editing which helps maintain entertainment factor from the genuine rom-com beats to more awkward, and downright bad, decisions made, largely by Charlie as he tries to cope.

Borgli and his cast play with worry over multiple factors, including that more people may find out at the worst possible time. Everything plays out with a searingly dark, but not edgy, humour placed almost all the way throughout whilst not ignoring the dramatic edges. Unease and tension is rarely this funny.

Four stars.