What would you do if you found out the worst thing your partner ever did? Well, The Drama doesn't exactly serve as an answer to this question but it does make for a thrilling provocation. If you aren't chronically online - you may not know that Zendaya and Robert Pattinson's latest movie is causing quite the stir. Distributed by A24 - The Drama has been ingeniously marketed so that any hint of its shocking twist has been kept behind closed doors. The real kicker? The entire plot basically is the twist. As such, in a minefield of online spoilers all you need to know is what the trailers tell you. A couple due to be married in 7 days ask each other what the worst thing the other has ever done. Bride-to-be Emma (Zendaya) answers with such a bombshell it threatens to derail her wedding with Charlie (Pattinson). 

This marks the third consecutive film from Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli that focuses, in some way, on the effects of cancel culture. His previous films Sick of Myself (2022) and Dream Scenario (2023) - centred on two individuals forced to grapple with new found fame and its dire consequences. Whilst his latest very much follows in their darkly comedic footsteps - The Drama is more about the reaction than the "antagonist". It raises the uncomfortable topic of how we process shocking revelations about our loved ones and, in turn, works best as a psychological thriller than it does dramady. That's not to say there aren't awkwardly amusing moments but the viewing experience is resoundingly horrific. 

It automatically gets a lot of mileage out of the lethal combination that is Zendaya and Robert Pattinson - but throw in a scene-stealing performance from Alana Haim and Hailey Gates and the whole thing completely erupts. Given the magnitude of Emma's confession and how the focus shifts to Charlie's reaction - the film sort of paints her character into a corner. We skirt around the big elephant in the room - which, although probably intentional, sometimes underserves Zendaya's immense talent. 

It's always fascinating to see something rapidly enter the cultural zeitgeist as this already has and the marketing surrounding it is ingenious. In withholding such key information about Emma's confession (as the trailers have), the audience are aligned with the characters in real time - causing our reaction to be as intuitive as theirs. Ultimately, this is a story about intent versus action - whether the notion of something immoral is as bad as acting on it.  The polarising online discourse surrounding the film is really symptomatic of how the characters in the film choose to navigate the situation. It's a fascinating toss up of our individual perception of right and wrong that speaks to a wider societal dilemma on how we find forgiveness in each other. 

The editing is a bit overworked at times. Some of the visual motifs mistake their constant repetition for character development. However, a lot of it also really works - the opening scene is spliced together like a horror (the Ari Aster producing credit makes total sense). It seems jarring at first but it's instantly clear that we're watching a ticking time bomb.

This is definitely one of the most uncomfortable cinema experiences in recent memory (think Shiva Baby on creatine). Pattinson delivers his best work yet and Alana Haim is nothing short of a superstar. It's the type of film that demands to be experienced with an audience and it deserves your attention. It's exciting to see a film tailor-made for controversy mostly stick the landing. Make sure to go in completely blind and to anyone thinking of playing a tell-all game a week before their wedding, maybe...erm...don't? 

If there's anyone who can push the envelope with considered confidence, it's Luca Guadagnino. Although the Italian filmmaker's work has garnered some criticism over the past few years (cannibal lovers and questionable age gaps spring to mind), even his most provocative fables show visceral complexity and affection towards their subjects. So it seems rather strange that After the Hunt - a film so self-conscious of its own provocation - prove to be nothing more than white noise. 

Julia Roberts plays Alma - a Yale philosophy professor who's competing for tenure against her suspiciously close colleague Hank (Andrew Garfield). Roberts is an understated sensation - she has an air of snow queen about her but never shows signs of thawing. We've seen Roberts thrive in larger than life personalities before - such as the iconic Erin Brockovich. Yet it's to her credit (and more pointedly her range) how she commands the screen here with unshakeable stoicism. 

Alma's frostiness repels the buoyancy of husband Fredrick (Michael Stuhlbarg) but charms the likes of Hank and Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) - a mediocre student with very rich parents. However, when Maggie appears at Alma's doorstep one evening claiming that Hank "crossed the line" with her - Alma is forced to reckon with not just her present relationships but the demons of her past as well. 

The current social landscape is more politically weaponised than ever. Screenwriting newcomer Nora Garrett makes an unreliable narrator the focal point of this accusation drama and though the film's moral ambiguity has recently been put under fire - what's most frustrating about Garrett's script is its total inability to commit to any of its ideas at all. There are fragmented moments that reveal a more perceptive film about systemic abuse and those who unwillingly become a part of it. But the film is convinced that the shear allusion to these ideas is enough to form a fully fledged story. It seems to think that its thematic vagueness keeps the audience wrapped around its finger; instead we're continually unravelling further from any sense of satisfaction. Perhaps we've just been spoilt by back-to-back collaborations with Challengers writer Justin Kuritzkes, but the discordance between page and screen hasn't felt as apparent in a Guadagnino flick as it does here. 

Even composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - frequent collaborators of Guadagnino - are off their game here. Disparate segments of clock ticking falsely suggest time plays an important role in the story - but in actuality it feels like a last minute attempt to salvage tension in a film where there is a decided lack thereof.

In defence of Guadagnino, he's trying and somewhat succeeding in elevating an underworked script. The film exists in a weird genre limbo, never really certain of its own intentions or tone. In a way, it sort feels like it's in a game of chess with itself. But thankfully that which could be totally mundane, is occasionally salvaged by Guadagnino's rich visual flair. 

This isn't director Kelly Fremon Craig's first rodeo, making waves with her candid though seemingly underrated The Edge of Seventeen, Craig winds the clock back to 1970 a time of no-fail pot roast and Norman Greenbaum. 

​It works that certain kind of magic that only the coming-of-age genre has to offer. Craig's approach gives the film this distinctly timeless feel, despite the retro landscape, there's a real sense of universality in themes. Visually it's admittedly bland and safe in its presentation but for the most part it’s a solid script that gifts its supporting characters with some wonderfully compelling moments. Rachel McAdams is just such a beauty to behold, a real guardian angel who not only steals every scene but completely runs away with the entire film. Meanwhile, newcomer Abby Ryder Fortson makes the performance her own with a decided awkwardness in every tiny moment. 
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The scripts calls for a lot more levity that just unfortunately isn’t there but if one things for certain is that Fremon Craig has such an affectionate and empathetic understanding of her target audience. an often whimsical and at times moving tale of pre-teen awkwardness and the tumultuous transition into womanhood, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret is exactly the comfort that young girls deserve. 

Despite previously establishing himself as the sole standout director amongst the usually indistinguishable marvel sludge, James Gunn's highly anticipated vol 3 absolutely reeks of Kevin Feige’s sticky corporate fingers. 

There's a promising story here - on paper at least - but this felt like an incredibly rushed job. it’s absolutely all over the place and any of Gunn's usual creativity is lost to the endless abyss of the Disney void.

Structurally, it’s frustrating. Rocket’s backstory and the present day guardians adventure never meld together into one concise narrative. by and large, the story feels like a few rough post-it note ideas strung together in a thinly plotted, slap dash finale that desperately lacks the key ingredients that makes the guardians so profound. In truth, it's not very well realised at all and Gunn fails to find the right emotional balance between each of the team (despite this usually being one of his strengths as a filmmaker). Here it genuinely feels like he’s at a loose end with most of these characters - the entire roster feel under-utilised and none of them particularly service the story at all. 

Perhaps the biggest problem with vol 3 is that the emotional beats that are there feel extremely contrived and manipulative. it spends all of its time aggressively convincing you that it’s an emotional film, when in actuality it’s just very half-baked and disingenuous. Gunn plays the heartfelt moments like a cosmic xylophone, but in his attempt to deliver a grande finale, he often confuses sentimentality for melodrama. Vol 3 mostly relies on the work of its predecessors to earn its emotional payoff, which it honestly doesn’t. 

As someone who has formed a deep relationship with these films from a young age, it saddens me to admit that guardians vol 3 isn’t exempt from mavel’s rapid state of creative decline. It completely lacks that same spark we know and love, often feeling very tired and worn out.