Gun Control Group Thinks Movie’s Marketing Should Talk More About a School Shooting That Never Happened

Now, there’s some real-life drama. A24 and director Kristoffer Borgli’s film “The Drama” is facing scrutiny over its marketing that conceals a major element of the film’s premise.

Specifically, the gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives has shared that the marketing that makes “The Drama” resemble a dark romantic comedy is “deeply misaligned with the reality it engages. We expect better from A24 and the artists behind it.“

In a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday, April 2 ahead of the film’s release this weekend, March for Our Lives issued a content warning for “The Drama,” saying it contains themes of a school shooting. “We don’t want to spoil the movie, but we have to,” the post reads.

The controversial element of “The Drama” that serves as the film’s crux is that, ahead of the wedding between Robert Pattinson and Zendaya’s characters, Zendaya’s character Emma reveals that she once planned a school shooting when she was a young teen. The confession is shared during a dinner with friends, who each share the worst thing they’ve ever done. Emma notes that her plan included practicing with a firearm to the point that it blew out her ear drum in one ear, writing and videoing a manifesto (seen in flashbacks), and even bringing the rifle to school. She, crucially, never carried through with the act.

The revelation rocks the impending nuptials and causes Pattinson’s character Charlie to rethink everything. In his review, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote that “it’s rare to see a mainstream film so eager to stick out its tongue and lick one of the last genuine third rails of American discourse.”

— Brian Welk in Why A24’s ‘The Drama’ Sparked Criticism from Anti-Gun Violence Organization Over ‘Misaligned’ Marketing