Saagar Kote
Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, ‘The Drama’ is a romantic comedy drama that follows the lives of Emma Harwood (Zendaya), a bookstore clerk, and Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson), a museum director. The two are engaged and happily look forward to their upcoming wedding in a few days. Charlie and Emma meet with their friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie). Unexpectedly, Rachel and Mike challenge the engaged couple to reveal the worst deeds they have ever done. When Emma accepts the dare and divulges certain truths about herself, it triggers unforeseen chaos, leaving Charlie in shock.
What starts as a harmless game turns dangerous as Emma and Charlie begin to doubt each other, and major tension builds between them. With arguments, uncertainty, and deceptive conversations taking over, Emma and Charlie are forced to make difficult decisions that may change the very course of their lives and the nature of their relationship. In this list, we bring you movies similar to ‘The Drama’ that delve deeply into complex social and personal themes.
12. Possession (1981)
‘Possession’ is directed by Andrzej Żuławski and is set in Cold War-era West Berlin. It chronicles the actions of Mark (Sam Neill), who suspects his wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani), of infidelity when she demands a divorce. Following this, the doubtful husband hires a private investigator, while starting an affair with his son’s teacher, Helen, who is Anna’s doppelganger with a different personality. Mark’s obsessive search for the truth clashes with Anna’s increasingly frantic desire to escape him.
Mark finds out about Anna’s lover, Heinrich, and his relationship with her becomes more violent. When Mark learns that Anna’s true obsession is far more dangerous, the couple’s reality takes unpredictable turns. The relationship issues between Mark and Anna in the French-German psychological horror drama, their arguments, and their emotional dynamic connect their journeys to Emma and Charlie’s experience in ‘The Drama.’
11. Phantom Thread (2017)
‘Phantom Thread’ follows the life of Reynolds Woodcock (Sir Daniel Day-Lewis), a fashion designer in 1950s London. The unmarried Reynolds runs his fashion house with the help of his sister, Cyril Woodcock (Lesley Manville), who desires control over the business. This carefully maintained balance in their professional and personal lives is upset by the arrival of Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps), a waitress who becomes Reynolds’ muse and lover.
With the passage of time, Alma challenges the status quo and the refined sensibilities of both Reynolds and Cyril. As Reynolds’ relationship with Alma deepens, his bond with Cyril becomes uncertain, and his view on life is challenged. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the psychological drama, like ‘The Drama,’ centers on a couple facing doubt, intense emotional strain, and complex power dynamics.
10. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Based on Edward Albee’s eponymous play, ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ is a drama film that centers on the lives of middle-aged George (Richard Burton), an associate professor, and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), a married couple. The two of them, despite their alcohol-fueled verbal abuse and mutual bitterness, invite young professor Nick (George Segal) and his wife Honey (Sandy Dennis) over for drinks. As the night progresses, the guests get entangled in George and Martha’s cruel emotional games, which lead to puzzling revelations about the hosts’ teenage son. Directed by Mike Nichols, the drama, through its focus on conversations between a couple, psychological tensions, and the cost of secrets, is connected to ‘The Drama.’
9. Marriage Story (2019)
Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, Netflix’s ‘Marriage Story’ delves into the puzzling marriage of theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) and actress Nicole Barber (Scarlett Johansson). As their careers diverge and emotional tensions rise, Charlie stays in New York City while Nicole moves to LA in pursuit of her career ambitions. Their son Henry (Azhy Robertson) is caught in the storm as his parents grow further apart. When Charlie and Nicole decide to pursue a divorce, their relationship quickly escalates into a challenging process marked by emotional struggles, new discoveries, and legal tensions that test their limits. Charlie and Nicole’s intense relationship struggles, their verbal exchanges, and the film’s tone connect it to ‘The Drama’ and its characters.
8. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
‘Triangle of Sadness’ follows the layered relationship between Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a couple working in the fashion industry, whose differing philosophies and personalities complicate their bond. The couple embarks on a luxurious cruise, captained by the dangerous Thomas Smith (Woody Harrelson), alongside other wealthy and elite passengers. However, when mysterious events unfold, the passengers find themselves stranded on an island with seemingly no way to communicate with the outside world. What follows is a deceptive and cruel survival struggle, which exposes the moral fragility of human beings. Written and directed by Ruben Östlund, the socially relevant black comedy, akin to ‘The Drama,’ is a commentary on relationships, secrets, shifting power dynamics, and the cost of mistrust.
7. The Worst Person in the World (2021)
‘The Worst Person in the World’ or ‘Verdens Verste Menneske’ is a Norwegian romantic comedy-drama that deals with the ups and downs in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve). The narrative sheds light on the stages in Julie’s life as she experiences love, self-doubt, and the intricacies of her own soul. The most important piece of this puzzle is Julie’s relationship with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), with whom she struggles with a difficult, uneven romantic bond. The film chronicles four crucial years in Julie’s life, including her career choices in Oslo and her romantic tryst with Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), while she still has difficult feelings for Aksel. Helmed by Joachim Trier, the movie is spiritually related to ‘The Drama’ in that it is a grounded take on modern relationships, the insecurities that challenge them, and the elements that give them meaning.
6. Closer (2004)
Directed by Mike Nichols, ‘Closer’ is an adaptation of Patrick Marber’s play of the same name and begins with a chance meeting that leads to struggling writer Dan Woolf (Jude Law) falling for Alice Ayres (Natalie Portman). A year later, Dan is in a different mental zone and attempts to court photographer Anna Cameron (Julia Roberts), who doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. The messy emotional situation becomes even more complicated when Dan introduces Anna to Larry Gray (Clive Owen), and they subsequently begin a relationship.
Dan and Anna finally commence an affair, which leads to unexpected consequences, deceptive moments, and chaos between all four players involved in the romantic equation in the charming world of London. The romantic drama film complements ‘The Drama’ by exploring the roles of trust, guilt, confession, and secrecy in modern relationships in a visually tense style.
5. Kinds of Kindness (2024)
‘Kinds of Kindness’ is a movie directed by Yorgos Lanthimos that narrates three thematically connected stories, with the same actors playing different roles. In the black comedy anthology film, the first tale is that of desperate corporate employee Robert Fletcher (Jesse Plemons) and his odd professional relationship with his controlling boss, Raymond (Willem Dafoe). The second story follows police officer Daniel’s wife, Liz (Emma Stone), who mysteriously returns from the dead as a different person, and a suspicious Daniel tests their relationship. The third part of the movie centers on the mysterious events in the lives of Emily and Andrew, who are part of a cult with strange demands of its loyal followers. The film shares similarities with ‘The Drama’ by commenting on marital tensions, self-doubt, and the role of secrets in shaping relationships.
4. The Lobster (2015)
In ‘The Lobster’, David (Colin Farrell) is sent to a mandatory hotel for singles in a dystopian society after his wife leaves him. The strict rules of the stay require people of all sexual orientations to find a romantic partner within 45 days. Failure results in a surgical transformation into an animal of one’s choice. David chooses a lobster as the transformation is presented not as a punishment, but as another chance at love as a different species.
David’s search for love is complicated by the other guests’ hidden agendas. He also discovers a group of anarchists living in the woods, many of whom are hotel escapees. This group forbids all coupling, yet David finds that escaping the need for connection is as difficult as forcing it. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the black comedy-drama explores themes of ‘The Drama’ through its perspectives on love and human connection in a world where trust and honesty are hard to find.
3. Force Majeure (2014)
Written and directed by Ruben Östlund, ‘Force Majeure’ or ‘Turist’ revolves around the trials and tribulations of Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) and Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli), a seemingly perfect Swedish couple who are on a five-day ski vacation in the French Alps with their two children, Vera and Harry. Tomas seeks work-life balance, but the family’s fragile bond soon starts to unravel. An incident reveals that Tomas prioritizes himself and possessions over his family, shocking Ebba.
While Tomas denies it, Ebba struggles with the realization, causing tension that could lead to divorce. Their divorced friend Mats and his young girlfriend Fanny arrive on another day, adding their perspectives to the discussion. A later encounter with a bus driver affects the resolution of this conflict, which takes interesting turns. The Swedish dark comedy, due to its unique portrayal of relationships and individual egos, and its tense visuals, is connected to ‘The Drama.’
2. Sick of Myself (2022)
‘Sick of Myself’ or ‘Syk pike’ is a Norwegian black comedy movie that deals with the actions of Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and Thomas (Eirik Sæther), who maintain a toxic, competitive relationship that escalates when Thomas achieves sudden success as an artist. Feeling eclipsed by her boyfriend’s newfound recognition and his high-profile work as a sculptor, Signe grows increasingly desperate to reclaim the spotlight.
Working at a café, Signe feels overshadowed by Thomas’s fame and the attention his art receives within Oslo’s cultural circles. Driven by intense narcissistic tendencies and a relentless need for validation, Signe formulates a shocking strategy to regain her social status and attention at any moral cost. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film is an intimate portrait of a couple’s chaotic relationship, marked by secrets, ego, and mistrust. Both films are helmed by the same filmmaker and feature visual similarities and thematic connections.
1. Dream Scenario (2023)
‘Dream Scenario’ is the story of the life of Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), a tenured professor with an interest in evolutionary biology, who struggles due to his feeling of insignificance. His life changes when he begins appearing in other people’s dreams globally, initially as a harmless, indifferent presence. This inexplicable phenomenon catapults Paul to widespread fame, granting him the attention he previously lacked. However, this unexpected popularity turns sour when his dream-self begins to act violently in the subconsciousness of strangers.
Paul is forced to confront the dark side of his newfound recognition, accompanied by fear and condemnation. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the comedy-drama movie is similar to ‘The Drama’ in that it explores questions of self, the secrets that individuals prefer to hide, and the cost of suppressed emotions and ego. The visual flavors, filmmaking style, and themes of the stories connect them on a greater level.
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