Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Drama and What’s Making Us Happy

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

In the dark comedy The Drama, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are getting married, but maybe they shouldn’t? The stars play a couple in full-on prep mode for their upcoming wedding, though when a shocking secret is revealed, suddenly their love for one another doesn’t seem all that secure.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, you're listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour, the podcast that keeps you plugged in about the latest and greatest in movies, TV, music, and more. And if you're a pop culture junkie who's not following the show yet, you need to fix that right now by following Pop Culture Happy Hour on your favorite podcast app. And next week, we'll be checking into the pit and catching up with some great TV we missed. So make sure to listen. And now, on to the drama. In the dark comedy, The Drama, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are getting married. But maybe they shouldn't. The stars play a couple in full-on prep mode for their upcoming wedding,

though when a shocking secret is revealed, suddenly their love for one another doesn't seem all that secure. It's a twisty, provocative movie that brings up a lot of questions, like, how well do you know your partner? And can people fundamentally change who they are? Really? I'm Aisha Harris, and today we're talking about the drama on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

And joining me today is Philadelphia Inquirer's Arts and Entertainment Editor and film critic Bedatri D. Chaudry. Hey, Bedatry. Hello, so glad to be here. So glad to have you. And also with us as journalist and host of the movie review podcast, Seated. Trevelle Anderson. Welcome, Trevelle. Hello, hello. Thanks for having me. So, so, the drama. Oh, my goodness. So the drama stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as Emma and Charlie. Yeah. It's like, what are the reactions you have? Oh, my goodness. What? What? Yeah, so the drama stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as Emma and Charlie. They're just days before their wedding when a conversation with friends leads to an intimate question. What's the worst thing you've ever done? Emma's answer is, to put it quite frankly, pretty disturbing. Shocking.

Yes, yes. So disturbing that it changes how Charlie sees his soon-to-be wife and makes him question everything he thought he knew about her. We're going to talk about that disturbing thing in a spoiler-packed episode on Monday. For now, we're sharing our general impressions of the movie. here on this episode. Now, the cast also includes Mamadu Ace and Alana Haim as Mike and Rachel, the couple's best man and maid of honor. The drama is directed by Christopher Borgley and is in theaters now. And we're recording us on Wednesday morning. We've had like a day to sit with this movie. I think you might already be able to tell that we're still, we're still processing it.

But Trevelle, I'm going to start with you. What did you think of this? So yeah, this is one of those movies where the discourse might be... The discourse TM. Trademark. Yeah. Might be more interesting than what we actually saw on screen. Now, I enjoyed the movie. It has a number of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.

I'm one of those people that, you know, I came for Zendaya, but I kind of stayed for Robert Pattinson, I think. That part. Yeah. And so lots of feelings, lots of thoughts. But overall, I was like, okay. worth my time. And I think it would be worth folks this time as well.

Yeah. The drama, the discourse, like, that is, it should be the drama, colon the discourse here. Yes. But, Atri, how about you? You know, I was thinking about this question, obviously, and I've been sitting with this film for a day. And I have been deeply unsettled by this film and not in a good way. And I think that is what the film sets out to do. So within that context, I think this.

this film is very effective in putting forth the discourse, as Treville said. Again, I know we're going ahead of ourselves, but more than what's on the screen, I think everything that it talks about and makes us think, it's an interesting film. Yeah, I mean, I guess this is a three-way agreement here. I really enjoyed this movie in the moment, right? I think, first of all, I would highly suggest if you're going to see this film, try and see it in a theater. Our theater was quite lively, which is like a weird thing to say about a movie that gets so dark.

But I do think overall this movie kind of handles the bleakness with the comedy in a really interesting way. I have never been an Ari Aster fan, but I feel like this movie is able to do a lot of what Aari Aster tries to do with his movies. And I think it's a little bit more successful. Now, completely different subject matters. But similarly, like, that kind of black, bleak comedy. And I think especially Robert Pattinson is really, real good in this because we see him turn into this person who's, like, his version of, like, who the F am I about to marry? Like, you know, like, Reese Tisa, but, like, Robert Pattinson, you know? And I really enjoyed seeing him play that to the hilt.

And so, like, as a communal experience in hearing people react and hearing people laugh and hearing people just like, like, gasp, like, this is what we go to the movies for? I'm curious, like, what were your audiences like? Was mine unique or did you also have that similar experience? No, very, very vocal audiences, like, you know, laughing, booing, sometimes clapping. You know, you can see the confusion that we're talking about and the gradual, the way this film gradually descends. ends into this weird, anxious, unsettling territory. I think, and you're right, Aisha, I think people should watch it with other people. Ideally, with someone you're planning a wedding with, that would be great.

Oh, man, but I think you want chaos. You want chaos. I'm here for the chaos and the drama. Oh, the best. Yeah, you know, what's interesting about it is that because it is a dark comedy, as you explained, Disha, you know, there's some moments where you hear other people laughing and you're like, but then I found myself being the only person laughing at a particular moment in my theater. I mean, so it really adds to the viewing experience if you can, you know, be with other people

who you don't know who are going to process and, you know, come to the film with their own lived experience and their own, you know, takes and feelings on certain things. But to see how they play with the comedy and the dark element of the comedy, I really liked it. It kept me kind of interested in what was coming next because the dark comedic moments were, you know, they were a little, you wouldn't hear people normally say things like that. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And I also think basing it within that context of planning a wedding brings in its inherent and

anxiety. It's an anxious process anyway. And then you're introducing, like, brand new information about people who you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. I quite enjoyed the storytelling. Yeah. I mean, I also really have to say Mambudu Aceh, and also Alana Hayam, but especially Mbidu Ache. He's one of those actors who every time I see him pop up, and he's usually playing this kind of role, like a side character, a best friend, or just like a smaller character. This might be one of the best sort of mediest roles I've seen him take on so far. And I really, really loved being able to see him have fun with the dialogue and have fun with just being that person who's trying to be there for his friend, but also, like, has a little

bit of more empathy, I think, for Zendaya's character than other people in the movie do. And like, or understanding. Oh my God, can we talk about Alana Haim and how much I hated her, which is to say she did an excellent job. Yes, yes. God, I was so annoyed. Yeah, there's a particular type of person and a particular type of woman and, dare I say, white woman, that Alana Haim is playing in this movie in comparison to Zendaya's character. And it's subtle, and that kind of gets into more of my quibbles with this movie, but we will get into that with the spoilers. But like, even just having it there to sort of see and read between the lines, I liked that aspect of the film.

This movie is super tense. It's just a very, it's a very disquieting movie. At one point, you're like, well, should I be rooting for this wedding to happen despite all odds? or do these people have no business being together? Yeah. Well, the movie plants that seed very early on because you watch the way they have their quote unquote meet cute, which is actually, I would argue, less cute and a little more creepy or like embarrassing for him. I'm just saying. And you're always wondering, like, I don't know.

And, you know, that's also part of the drama, I think. It's part of the allure and part of what we're seeing is like, do these people actually belong together? But then that's also like so many movies. I think a lot of movies don't necessarily question that in the way this movie does, which I think makes this far more intriguing than your average. Will they, won't they make it down the aisle? Or will they won't they even get together kind of movie. It definitely will have, if you are in a long-term relationship with somebody,

it definitely might have you asking yourself a few preguntas, okay, about, you know. I did ask my partner, what's the worst thing he does? did after watching this film. So yes, Trevelle is absolutely... I have not asked mine, but I'm thinking about it. Yeah. Well, I asked mine specifically what he would say if I answered the way Zendaya did.

And his answer was very illuminating. But we're still together, so it's fine. And I'm rooting for you, Aisha, unlike in this film. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think we've kind of danced around it. Look out for a spoiler. episode with the three of us in your feeds next week. Wow, I'm proud of us that we were able to talk about this without getting into details.

But yeah, up next, what's making us happy this week. Welcome back. A reminder, if you're not following our show yet, hit that follow button on your preferred podcast app and stay plugged in on all things pop culture happy hour adjacent, including What's Making Us Happy Every Week, which brings me to what's making us happy. I'm going to start with you, Bedatri, Hit us. Yes.

So it says documentary called Natchez by Susanna Herbert. So this, as the name suggests, it's a documentary based in the town called Natchez in Mississippi. I had no idea about this town,

but apparently the whole pull of this town is all these tours of really old houses and cottages that tourists take. And this is an antebellum tourist attraction. So all these houses houses mansions have very dark histories.

Mostly all of them were slave owners. And I thought this would be a very heavy film. But it's funny, sometimes hilarious. You know, we are in the middle of these times when, you know, people are actively trying to erase America's history of slavery. So it's interesting to see this film grapple with that, that what do we do with the past like that? And some people just give in to the nostalgia often.

it without delving into the complications of it. And then there are people who really focus on the past and say, no, this is going to be at the center of our conversation around our history. And then some people are just plain old racists. It's funny, but not in a ha-ha kind of way. It kind of makes you think about the ways in which we honor our history and what is there to honor in our history, if at all. So that's not shares by Susanna Herbert.

And you can stream it on Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, VOD, just about anywhere you, what's your films? Awesome. Thank you so much. That descriptor kind of sounds like the drama for being real. Yes. Heavy subject, amusing approach. So thank you for that, podatry.

That sounds really fascinating. Trevelle, what is making you happy this week? All right. What's making me happy this week? I know the PCHH audience is very learned. So I was going to come with a book recommendation, which was Brandy's new memoir that she recently released co-written by journalist Garrett Kennedy. And then in preparation for this show, because the Lord works in mysterious ways, a friend sent me a music track that is also connected

to Brandy in an interesting way. And it did indeed make me happy. And so I know it will do the same for y'all. This is a mix from DJ Michael Dante and Black House Radio that takes Impossible the song from Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, but the 1997 version starring Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as the fairy godmother. And it freaks it in a really interesting way that I particularly love. Don't you love it? Yes. You did not know that you needed, okay, Cinderella over a ballroom house beat by any means,

but you're welcome. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. My inner child is screaming right now. I love this. I had this movie on VHS. Oh, my goodness. I love it.

Michael Dante is the DJ, the song, Impossible. It's possible. This mix, you can find it on Apple Music. Awesome. Thank you so much, Jabel. Oh, that makes you so happy. Well, what is making me happy this week is the TV show, Age of Attraction, on Netflix. Have you all heard about this?

No. Have you heard about this show? If you know me at all, you know. that I love my dating reality shows, no matter how trashy, how silly, how just out of control they are. This one is actually a little more reserved and tamed and, like, kind of sweet in a way that I was not expecting. The promise basically is that singles come together at a retreat to connect with other singles of the opposite sex. As far as I can tell, at least in the first season, this was like basically just all hetero partnerships, that kind of show. The point is that they're like, I'm so sick of dating people, my own age, and I just want to be more open.

And so they come together at this retreat and like love is blind. You can talk to them, but you don't know what they look like. You can't see them. This one, you can see them and you can talk to them and you can ask them everything except how old they are. And so what can go wrong? Uh-oh. Yeah. This is where it gets a little kind of icky and weird.

Like they can go to the promise room. They call it the promise room and then reveal their age. And then they go out into the real world if they decide that they're going to continue trying to date each other. Chaos ensues, things happen. The same stuff that happens on all those other shows. Like they meet the families, friends. They try to live together, whatever. But, you know, unlike Love is Blind, marriage isn't the end goal. It's just, you know, can we be in a relationship? Can our, can our relationship transcend our age difference? And the age caps here are not small. The ones who were featured ultimately following them outside of the retreat.

The age gaps range from 15 years on the low end to 33 at the most. Now hold on. Yes. So, you know, I say all that's to say, like, you watch the show. It is a little bit more balanced than you might expect. And I do think it is a dating show that has better intentions, at least on the surface, than other shows do. So, yeah, if you're looking for a new dating reality show, it's Netflix.

Age of Attraction. Look, I love my trash TV. What can I say? That's what's making me happy this week. Tray-Vell Anderson and Budatri T. Chaudhry, thanks so much for being here. I loved unpacking the drama with you both. Can't wait to unpack the spoilers with you next week. Thank you, Ayesha. Same. Thank you so much. This episode was produced by Liz Medsker, Hufza, Pathema, Carly Rubin, and Mike Katzif, and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello, Kmen, provides our theme music, and Thank you for listening to Popchurcher Happy Hour from NPR. If you're not already following the show, do that right now.

I'm Aisha Harris, and we'll see you all next week.