What Can Stop You from Loving Someone?: A Review on The Drama

by Aaliyah Smith

@themiseducationofliyah

What’s the last good romance film you have seen? Can’t answer? I get that.

I feel like a lot of us have kinda given up on romance films. They just don't hit the way they used to. However when a teaser drops out of nowhere, featuring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, all of a sudden, we’re paying attention.

The first teaser dropped back in December and viewers quickly felt that this wasn’t your ordinary romance film. This one had an edge to it. 

Fast forward to April 3rd, the film drops. I texted my friend immediately like, we have to see this. Because if there’s anything to expect from A24, it is that they are usually quite enjoyable and quite beautiful. Also the marketing was insane, shout out to however was behind it. 

Now the official synopsis of the film is simple: Emma Hardwood and Charlie Thompson, an engaged couple preparing for their wedding, are forced to confront their relationship after a confession changes everything. That’s all you get.

Going into The Drama, neither my friend nor my friend had any clear idea what this could be about. Was it going to be super cheesy? What is going to turn into a thriller or horror film? Was somebody going to die or fall for someone else? No clue. So, when the lights dimmed and the movie started, we were prepared to be surprised. 

And surprised we were. 

If you think you know what this movie is about, you don’t. And even if you think you do, it’s still going to catch you off guard. What the film does best is that there is no slow easing into it. No gentle build. It just drops you into the moment and suddenly you’re reacting in real time with the characters and the entire theater.

And once that moment hits, you find yourself in Charlie’s position and start asking yourself the question that film quietly centers everything around. 

What can stop you from loving someone?

After the reveal, the film shifts.You start to feel the tension settle in. It’s in the conversations, the pauses, the way they look at each other. It’s dramatic, yes, but also weirdly funny at times. Like the film is fully aware of how absurd the situation is, while still taking it completely seriously.

And that’s really where Zendaya and Robert Pattinson carry this.

Zendaya as Emma… you understand her, even when you don’t agree with her. You see where she came from. A loner, someone who wasn’t really seen and wasn’t really chosen. Now she’s in a position where she is deeply loved, maybe for the first time. 

And Charlie… I’m not even gonna lie to you, some of y’all would love him. But me? That man is pathetic. Like genuinely. Whiny, unsure, the type of man who can’t even ask the cashier for extra kitchup. You know exactly the type. And that’s their dynamic right there; Emma is dealing with real, heavy, internal things, and Charlie is just… struggling to stand up in any real way.

But at the same time, that imbalance is what makes them make sense.

Because by the end of the film, the conclusion I came to is this: they’re going to stay together. Not because everything is resolved, but because people like that… they find each other and stay.

A man like Charlie is not finding another Emma. And a woman like Emma is not finding another Charlie. So they’re going to sit in it. They’re going to rationalize it. They’re going to make it make sense for them.

And that’s where the film gets uncomfortable.

Because underneath everything, this is really a film about morality. About who gets to decide what’s forgivable and what isn’t. About how people play God in determining what makes someone “good” or “bad.”

People go through things. People do messed up things. People think messed things up. That’s just real. But the question is how much of that do you hold onto when you’re looking at who they are now?

And I think what makes the film hit is that it doesn’t answer that for you. It just sits you in it.

”People go through things. People do messed up things. People think messed things up. That’s just real.

But the question is how much of that do you hold onto when you’re looking at who they are now?”

As someone studying psychology (I bring it up everytime), it also made me think about how we freeze people in time. We hear something about their past—something they did at 15, 16, 20—and we act like that version of them is permanent. But people aren’t static. People change. Or at least… they can.

So then the real question becomes: do you allow them to?

Or do you hold them to a version of themselves that doesn’t even exist anymore?

This is where the film lingers

In terms of who this is for, honestly, just go watch it. But I will say this: this is not a passive watch. This is not something you throw on in the background or wait to stream casually.

This is a theater movie.

And not because it’s loud or action-packed—but because the experience matters. My theater was reacting. Laughing, gasping, talking back to the screen at the right moments. And when that moment hits, you need to hear that reaction around you.

Also—do not read anything before you go. I’m so serious. Don’t go on Letterboxd, don’t read reviews, don’t look up breakdowns. Go in blind. Let it hit you the way it’s supposed to.

Because this is also the kind of film you’re going to want to watch again. Not because it’s confusing—but because there’s so much to unpack. The symbolism, the choices, the little moments that mean more once you know what you know.

For my writing girls, my Substack girls, my think-piece girls—yeah. This is that film. This is the one that’s going to have essays, threads, discussions, all of it.

Is it saving romance as a genre? I don’t know.

Is it going to make you want to get married? …probably not.

But it will make you think about the people you love, the things you’re willing to accept, and the lines you swear you’d never cross—until you’re actually standing in front of them.