Drama
Drama is the genre all about emotions. It is about the complexities of life and how we deal with them. Naturally, it is a very encompassing genre, but the main focus is ordinary people, people who you could see as a friend or neighbor, dealing with life as a whole.
Themes
While there are tons of variations for what a Drama film could discuss, it is typically about life events and how they affect people. They may take place in any setting, but tend to focus on familiar environments like home, work, or school. They can also discuss all kinds of topics- mental illness, drug abuse, racial prejudice, assault, political issues, and religion to name a few.
Requiem For A Dream (2000), a psychological drama film about drug abuse
Characters
The main characters are not perfect people. In a drama film, you are meant to see them at their best and their worst, flaws and all, and make your own judgement about them. A drama film will show us all parts of a character to make us sympathize with them and although we may not like them, we are meant to understand their struggle. Sometimes times these movies are about a real person’s life, such as Priscilla (2023).
Priscilla (2022), a biopic about Priscilla Presley’s life
Obstacles
The struggles of these characters are often not physical ones. Most of what makes a film a drama is having emotional problems, so even if there are physical problems like in All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) or Zodiac (2007), the film focuses on how those things impact the emotional state of people.
All Quiet On The Western Front (2022), a war drama about World War 1
Zodiac (2007), a crime drama about the notorious Zodiac Killer
Romance
Romance as a genre is iconic. Love is the focus of a romance film, and humans love to hear about love. Many criticize the genre as being cheesy or cliche, but there is a lot more to romance than just “then they got married and lived happily ever after.”
Themes
Romance explores love and everything to do with it, including intimacy, connection, loss, and passion between people. Romantic films often take place at school, work, or other places where interactions with others take place, but subgenres like historical romance show that they can take place anywhere. While many of these films end with the two subjects ending up together at the end, many of them also end in heartbreak or tragedy, such as Titanic (1997).
Titanic (1997)
Characters
A romance movie typically revolves around someone who feels unfulfilled in their day to day life, and someone who helps them rediscover their passion for it or achieve their goals, both of them falling in love in the process. There’s many “stock characters” that are used in this genre that may make people write it off as cliche, such as the “secret billionaire” Nick Young from Crazy Rich Asians (2018), or the “manic pixie dream girl” character (which I could honestly write a thesis about) Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010).
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Obstacles
There are so many different obstacles that two characters can face when it comes to love. There could be a love triangle, such as It Ends With Us (2024). Maybe the two characters are homosexual in an area where same-sex relationships are considered wrong, like Brokeback Mountain (2005). The characters could even start out hating eachother before slowly falling in love, like in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of ways a relationship can be sabotaged, and the watcher is left to wonder if love will endure.
It Ends With Us (2024)
Brokeback Mountain (2005), a film that is too sad for its own good
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
