"The Drama" And The State of Provocateur Cinema
4/16/20261 hr 30 min
This week, we’re confessing the worst thing we’ve ever done with Zendaya and Batman himself with The Drama. The twist premise of A24’s newest hit throws a grenade into the idyllic romance of a beautiful couple in Boston in the days before their wedding. The movie hinges on the question of whether we can really know the people we love, but the premise, the worst thing Zendaya’s character has ever done, is what audiences are talking about. Is it a purposeful provocation or an empty one?
We discuss the movie’s masterfu...
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First 90 secondsMarie Vardie0:00
[upbeat music] From Blank Check Productions, this is Critical Darlings, a podcast about the movies everyone's talking about, one new release after another. Please welcome your hosts, Richard Lawson and Alison Wilmore.
Richard Lawson· Host0:24
[clapping] Marie Vardie, thank you for that dramatic, but in a good way, introduction. Um- [laughs] Have to bring the drama for this episode.
Alison Willmore· Host0:34
[laughs] It's required.
Richard Lawson· Host0:34
It's true. Uh, Alison and I, as ever, are joined by our producer Ben Frisch. Hello, Ben.
Ben Frisch0:38
Good morning.
Richard Lawson· Host0:39
So- We're just gonna start off, what's the worst thing you've ever [laughs] Yeah, exactly. That's what I was gonna ask you. [laughs] Um, oh, I did, I did, for a period of time, do a light catfishing on AOL, um, in which I pretended to be a British diplobrat whose father- [laughs] ... had relocated us to Boston, where I, we lived. And, and for whatever reason, despite who I was interested in romantically, I, I, I only talked to girls.
Alison Willmore· Host1:08
Um, did you use British slang when you talked to them?
Richard Lawson· Host1:11
Oh, of course.
Alison Willmore· Host1:11
Did you say, like, "Oh, sorry, a lorry just drove by."
Richard Lawson· Host1:15
Of course, Alison. And it, and any British person reading it would be like, "What the hell is this?"
Ben Frisch1:19
[laughs] [laughs] What was your username?
Richard Lawson· Host1:20
It was, it was Liam something.
Alison Willmore· Host1:23
[laughs] I feel like, uh, I don't have as good a story to cough up as any