Good news, grown-ups, even though most of the screens at your local theater are probably still devoted to “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” there’s a decent option for adults in one of the other houses. I’m convinced that “The Drama” has stayed in the top three at the domestic box office for the past two weekends by reeling in parents who don’t want to watch Mario with their kids, but don’t want to leave the theater. Or it could be good advertising, good word-of-mouth, good reviews, or other non-cynical reasons.

The film follows Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya), a nauseatingly-cute Boston-area couple a week away from their wedding. He’s a bit of a creep and she doesn’t talk much about her military-family upbringing, but they’re sure they can learn to live with each other’s foibles, after all, they’re in love. Hopefully it’s not much of a spoiler to say that their love will be tested over the course of the film as they deal with, well, drama.

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That drama first rears its head at a couples’ dinner with friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim). Rachel has the bright idea to have everyone at the table reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done. I’m not sure what the “best” case scenario is for a game like this, but it certainly ends in one of the worst. Emma makes the grave miscalculation of thinking that she has the forum to be honest, and reveals a secret that ruins everybody’s night.

I joked about spoilers earlier, but when it comes to Emma’s secret, things are more difficult. Unlike traditional spoilers, this one comes early in the movie, when she and Charlie are still in their “honeymoon phase,” so to speak. Not revealing the secret makes it hard to look at the rest of the movie, but it’s in the movie’s best interest that the audience is taken off-guard so they don’t have time to form opinions about the controversial subject matter in advance.

What I can say is that once Emma’s secret is revealed, Charlie can’t look at her the same way again. He tries to put it out of his mind, but… if you’re told not to think of a red umbrella, you think of a red umbrella, and Emma’s secret might have involved some red umbrellas if people were carrying umbrellas. It is worth noting that Emma’s secret does not involve tangible victims or require tangible consequences. All it can do is affect how people think of her, which is invariably some form of “worse.”

Emma’s secret drives Charlie to madness in his relationship with his friends, his assistant (Hailey Gates), and especially Emma. Eventually his insecurities drive her crazy, and by the time of the wedding, they’re quite the dysfunctional couple. They’re talking about spending the rest of their lives together, but can the relationship even survive the reception? Let’s just say that there will probably be a lot fewer fantasies about getting married to Robert Pattinson after this movie.

“The Drama” really clicked with me, even though its appeal lies in a dark, awkward, cringey comedy that I don’t normally like. Probably the highlight of the film for me was a scene from the trailers, where Charlie and Emma try to pose for wedding photos like everything is okay when it definitely isn’t. It’s not hard to tell from the trailers that “something” is off, but the added context made it funnier than it ever was when being cryptic (though being cryptic was the right tone for the trailers). I recommend this film, but try to wear a beat-up shirt that you won’t mind stretching out from tugging at your collar.

Grade: B

“The Drama” is rated R for sexual content, some violent/bloody images, language throughout, and brief drug use. Its running time is 105 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.