Charlie and Emma are happily engaged when a sudden turn of events sends their wedding week, and their entire circle, into chaos.

Rarely do those films come when a few minutes in, something happens that sends your jaw to the floor, and it stays there until the credits roll. When they do, it’s quite an experience to behold, and The Drama is a shocking, hysterical and unsettling example of that. Kristoffer Borgli’s follow-up to the brilliantly absurd Dream Scenario is far more real, far more us, in the way we might be too afraid to admit. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s castings play so well to their characters, but the film strips down their “star power” and the actors go to the boldest and ugliest depths of their characters. Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie also round out the excellent casting, while Hailey Benton Gates is brilliant in a standout supporting role that’s nearly as transfixing as the two leads.

Borgli, who also edited the film, creates meaning in every cut, line, and even joke, with all the elements resonating in a thrilling and charged film that’s not really like anything I’ve seen before it. The film is deeply provocative in its themes that I haven’t seen almost any film approach so corageously and in such a necessary way. It’s about so many things, from the ease at which we judge, degrade, and turn on one another, to American society’s reward of excess towards human violence and suffering. It’s sure to generate conversation — including many important ones — for audiences who are able to stomach the bluntness by which it approaches its almost terrifying subject matter. It’s best to go in blind to The Drama but its unpredictable discomfort are also its hilarity and captivation by which your eyes are glued to the screen.