The Drama

British museum director Charlie Thompson approaches bookstore clerk Emma Harwood while she is reading at a café. Emma ignores him, and Charlie returns to his seat. He then approaches Emma again to apologize for making her uncomfortable. Emma explains that she is deaf in one ear and had not heard him earlier. She convinces him to start over. They eventually go on a date.

Two years later, Emma and Charlie are engaged. While walking one night, they witness their wedding DJ, Pauline, smoking heroin in a public park. They later discuss the incident with their maid of honor, Rachel, and best man, Mike, and deliberate over whether to fire Pauline. When Rachel defends her, saying each of them has probably done bad things, the group takes turns admitting the worst thing each of them has done—Mike used his ex-girlfriend as a human shield during a dog attack in Mexico, Rachel locked her mentally disabled neighbor in an abandoned RV's closet overnight, and Charlie cyberbullied a classmate so severely that the boy's family moved away. Emma then hesitantly reveals that when she was fifteen she planned to commit a school shooting. She explains that, although she had told Charlie she was born deaf, she actually lost her hearing when, while practicing shooting in the forest, she held the gun too close to her face. She later abandoned her plan after seeing how another mass shooting negatively affected her community and instead began advocating for gun control. The revelation shocks everyone, especially Rachel, who reveals that her cousin, Samantha, was paralyzed in a shooting.

Charlie begins reconsidering whether to go through with the wedding, which strains their relationship. They awkwardly continue planning the wedding. Rachel withdraws from her friendship with Emma and says she will not attend the wedding, though Charlie later persuades her to go. He later has an awkward encounter with Samantha where he frantically assures her that she "would love Emma." While at work, Charlie asks his coworker Misha how she would react if she learned her boyfriend Blake had planned a school shooting in his youth. When Misha says she would call the police, a distraught Charlie storms out and breaks down when she follows him. As Misha attempts to comfort him, he kisses her and begins removing her clothes but quickly stops himself.

In the midst of wedding-day preparations, Charlie and Emma have a tense meeting with Pauline where Emma reveals what they saw and ultimately fires her despite Pauline swearing her innocence. During Charlie and Emma's wedding, Rachel gives a passive-aggressive speech deriding Emma for her dishonesty and Charlie for enabling her behavior, increasing Emma's anxiety. While in the bathroom, Emma overhears Misha discussing a school shooting with another guest. Emma alerts Charlie to her concerns that the attendees are gossiping about them and pulls Misha into the room to confront her. Mistakenly believing Emma is confronting her about her tryst with Charlie, Misha blames Charlie by saying he kissed her first, much to Emma's shock. Charlie gives an awkward speech reaffirming his love for Emma, assuring the guests that Emma "didn't do anything," and apologizing for cheating on her with Misha. Misha's boyfriend, Blake, furiously confronts and attacks Charlie. Emma leaves during the chaos, refusing to answer any of Charlie's subsequent calls or texts.

Later, a bloodied and miserable Charlie goes to his and Emma's favorite diner alone. Emma arrives and sits across from him. They reintroduce themselves as if meeting for the first time, hold hands across the table, and smile at each other.