Welcome to LOST WEEKEND, VICE’s new Monday briefing.I’ve never cared about spoilers. I mean, really, you’re not going to watch a film because you know what happens—what are you, a child? But I’ll behave myself just this once, because the twist that arrives early on in The Drama is kind of the whole point of the film. Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli is basically asking how well we can ever really know another person—a question brought to life by a deliciously warped revelation contained within the film’s first act. At a time when many of us are fearful of leaving the house without consulting three-to-five cultural and business review websites, it’s a truly courageous act to create a piece of cinema where so much hangs on an unexpected, speak-and-it’s-spoiled plot point.The film follows a seemingly perfect couple, played by the suitably beautiful Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, as they plan for their wedding, preparing for every eventuality—only to be undone by the one thing you can’t control: the distance between what you’ve done and how you continue to appear in the world. Everything starts to fall apart for them when Zendaya reveals an unexpected secret during an innocuous conversation over a glass of skin-contact wine (the reference cues throughout the film are selected with an almost brutal eye for detail). After being asked “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” she makes the ultimate faux pas of responding honestly. This moment is teased in the trailer, and before watching the film, I tried to guess what she could possibly disclose that would be quite so destabilizing to their relationship. What if she killed a homeless person? Maybe she’s a female pedophile? Zendaya’s truth turns out to be a particularly modern form of shame, which is teased out with a dark absurdity across the rest of a film that often teeters on the brink of satire but always stays just the right side of believable.Once you learn what she’s hiding, you might find yourself questioning why this ever came as a surprise. That someone attractive could be capable of an ugly act is at the heart of what Pattinson has to contend with. The Drama is an excruciating portrayal of modern masculinity in all its vanity, self-regard, and obsession with being seen to do the right thing. Pattinson’s flawless cheekbones and enviable jawline are reduced to a mask of anxiety and doubt; the artfully tousled hair which once hinted at an effortless charm now reveals his inner disarray.The sound design and editing take us deep within his spiral as he attempts to rationalize what’s going on. When ultimately he’s unable to, he resorts to simply lying to himself and others. It’s no coincidence that his job is a curator. As the film goes on, you’re invited to scrutinize your own assumptions about their relationship, recontextualizing the early rom-com tropes (the “meet cute,” their first kiss) as examples of yet more artifice and manipulation.“This is an excruciating portrayal of modern masculinity”The impending wedding, with all the attendant social pressures and family expectations, gives the film its structure; it’s the ticking clock that prevents Zendaya and Pattinson from having the “simple” conversation that might avert disaster. As in real life, the input and intervention of those closest to them—the infuriating frenemy played by Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie, cast as another cucked husband—only exacerbate the situation. The big day, when it finally arrives, is one of the more excruciating weddings committed to film. The suffocating anxiety brings to mind some of Ruben Östlund’s more memorable comic set-pieces. European filmmakers truly have a sensibility for discomfort that pound for pound—or maybe Euro for Euro—American directors can’t match. View this post on Instagram There’s a point during The Drama where the camera lingers over Michel Houellebecq’s The Map and the Territory, which feels apt, given Borgli shares a certain hysterical realism with literature’s most misanthropic contemporary writer. Like anything Houellebecq has ever put his name to, The Drama is a provocation, taking shots at a culture that so readily mistakes performative sincerity for the real thing. It’s to the film’s credit that it refrains from ever telling you what to think about this. In a moment where movies are more didactic and patronizing than ever before, The Drama shows how far Hollywood has fallen off in recent years. Frankly, it’s a relief to watch this kind of thing be set up and resolved across a runtime of 90-120 minutes rather than stretched out into an insufferable eight-part TV streaming series.Have you made it this far without googling what Zendaya’s guilty secret is? Well done! Maybe it’s my turn to question my assumptions about the world.BAR ROOM GOSSIPAmerican bodybuilder and actor Mike O’Hearn has been spotted filming on the streets of Soho in London this weekend. We’re guessing he wasn’t in town for Yves Tumor at LOST.Lias Saoudi, frontman of Fat White Family, has teased a succulent new book called Tears of the Patriarch about “Travelodge erotica, the death of reason, and my passion for Australian cuisine.”Writer and artist Mackenzie Thomas has been reunited with a beloved hoodie that was “stolen” from one of her shows after someone was spotted wearing it at Singers bar in Brooklyn.PREDICTION OF THE WEEKAfter Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow’s massive exposé on OpenAI in The New Yorker, his “dad” Woody Allen announces a new movie about a shady tech guru called Stan Oldmen. Financing from Elon Musk inevitably raises questions about whether the whole thing has been written by SuperGrok.BRAND NEW SENTENCE“Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro signed a SpongeBob toy for 6ix9ine after they spent three months locked up together.” [source]BONUS PREDICTION: WHAT’S THE ACTUAL WORST THING ZENDAYA HAS DONE?She acted as a mole to ensure that Drake, her fellow executive producer on Euphoria, was humiliated in his rap battle against Kendrick Lamar.Follow Adam on Instagram @yungtolstoiThe post The VICE Verdict: ‘The Drama’ Is Unbearable appeared first on VICE.