On Location peels back the curtain on some of your favorite films, television shows, and more. This time, we take a look at The Drama.
The Boston-Cambridge area—with its many universities, quaint brownstone blocks, New England charm, and the Charles River running through it—has been the setting for many acclaimed films including classics like The Departed and Good Will Hunting. The latest drama set in Beantown that is bound to become an instant classic is The Drama, a romantic comedy-turned-thriller from Kristoffer Borgli. The film tells the story of a couple Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) in a fragile moment: their wedding is a week away. Outwardly, they are the perfect young erudite couple. She’s a literary editor and he’s a museum curator. We see them writing and rehearsing their vows, learning their first dance, tasting food and wines for their wedding. Then it all goes suddenly sideways.
Over one too many drinks with their friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), Rachel proposes they all go around the table and confess the worst thing they’ve ever done. When Emma shares hers’, the group—her fiancé included—is incredulous. She has shared something she can never take back and the titular drama unfolds.
From the beloved chain Tatte Bakery to the fictional Cambridge Art Museum where Charlie curates, The Drama takes us on a scenic tour of the Boston area’s first-rate haunts. Production designer Zosia Mackenzie, who also worked on Borgli’s last film Dream Scenario, shared with Condé Nast Traveler that her father spent some of his youth in Boston but she hadn’t ever visited before working on this film: “It was a great way for me to retroactively retrace some family roots while also exploring other facets of the city.” Below, Mackenzie takes us through the locations you’ll see in The Drama.
The meet-cute
“Like any great city, Boston has a ton of awesome cafes—and not just Tatte Bakery. But during pre-production and prep we found ourselves always coming back to this one location as our ideal. This specific Tatte happened to be at the base of the John Hancock Tower, which required a ton of legwork on behalf of our locations team to secure. Fortunately, it all came together in time, and I think it sets up the film (and Boston) perfectly.”
