Drop ★★★

It is likely that you have seen a film like Drop before. Violet (Meghann Fahy), a single mother on a first date, is thrust into an impossible position. This night of anxiety and hope has turned sinister as she begins to receive mysterious “drops” – messages and memes from someone no more than 50 feet away – on her phone. They start off odd and perhaps a little unsettling, but before long, they turn threatening. Violet has left her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) at home with her sister Jen (Violett Beane) and whoever is responsible for these drops has an armed intruder in her home, ready to attack Toby and Jen if Violet does not do what she is told. A suspenseful techno-thriller, Drop finds director Christopher Landon working in conventional yet nevertheless exciting and nerve jangling territory.

Violet and Henry (Brandon Sklenar), after months of talking, have finally made it out on their first date. In one another, they see hope. Henry has a familiar story of losing faith in the dating apps, until he stumbled on Violet’s profile. Violet’s story is more harrowing and is established in the film’s opening scene. As she is being assaulted by her first husband, she watches him point a gun at her, at Toby, and then at himself before he seemingly pulls the trigger to kill himself. It has taken a long time for Violet to build up the confidence and readiness to both leave Toby at home and to give a new man a chance. This was to be a night of new beginnings. She and Henry are having dinner at an exclusive and ritzy Chicago restaurant. Violet arrives first and waits at the bar where she gets some nice compliments from bartender Cara (Gabrielle Ryan Spring). Soon, Henry arrives and is just as nervous as Violet is, but plenty charming. They have a table right by the window with a wonderful view of the city. Despite the anxiety they feel, it should be a good night, only for them to wind up in the crosshairs of a sadistic plot.

Once these drops start, Landon creates a suffocating atmosphere. Akin to similarly-plotted films like Phone Booth and Red Eye or a film like Enemy of the State that was thematically centered on surveillance, Violet is never alone. The villain has carefully orchestrated this night of terror to keep Violet always within reach. They are, of course, nearby to keep a watchful eye on her but there are also the restaurant’s security cameras and hidden listening devices all over that have Violet surrounded. Even the home security feed she has on her phone tightens the grip, having her watch in suspense as this intruder creeps up behind Jen or lingers outside of Toby’s door. It is not enough to just conceive of the threat, but she is forced to watch the danger while having no feasible way out of this vice grip. The villain knows who she is and how to hurt her, while she is playing from behind at all times, left to play a guessing game of who it could be. Any subterfuge on her part is swiftly upended and even some assistance she receives from Henry is cut short once she is commanded to not tell anyone about what was happening. She is alone, she is being watched, and she is completely at the mercy of this unseen evil.

Together with cinematographer Marc Spicer and editor Ben Baudhuin, Landon makes this tension not only emotional but visual. Close-ups and extreme low-angles of Fahy’s panicked face, while the texts issuing her next orders flash on the screen around her. As she tries to power through and have a good night with Henry, she is never free from the buzzing of her phone. Landon knows how to play his cards, keeping the tension steady with only slight moments of levity once the action gets underway – usually provided by Violet and Henry’s nervous first-time waiter Matt, wonderfully portrayed by Jeffery Self – with Violet and the viewer alike left to scan the restaurant for any clues or suspects. At first, there is comfort in thinking it is just the kids celebrating prom. But, once the drops turn sinister, that answer holds no weight. It must be someone else. Could it be the piano player Phil (Ed Weeks), who hit on Violet at the bar, only to be given the brush? Could it be the lone man in the waiting area, Connor (Travis Nelon), who keeps staring at Violet? She seemed very nice, but what about bartender Cara? Or the man who Violet met at the bar who was also on a first date, Richard (Reed Diamond)? It could be anyone and Drop excels in keeping us guessing, all while these drops escalate from small tasks to a big one: kill Henry or Toby and Jen will die.

Drop is a film best experienced in the moment without worrying about the logic or consistency in its plotting, as neither are likely to hold up to scrutiny. Some of its most outlandish scenes – largely coming in the climax – manage to leap from being thrilling to genuinely hysterical, playing almost like a parody of outlandish 80s and 90s thrillers. However, Landon, for the most part, excels in keeping the story grounded. Violet’s background as a victim of abuse is a key theme with her expressing to Henry her regret over staying in the relationship so long and not doing enough to protect Toby. Now she finds herself and Toby again staring down the barrel of a gun held by a violent and sinister individual. This is her chance to fight back and reclaim her happiness, but she is playing this game with an opponent who sets the rules and can change them whenever she gets an edge. It is a stacked deck, she has a bad hand, and is left to use just her cunning and her wit to figure out a way out of this situation while keeping everybody she cares about alive.

Meghann Fahy is a big reason why Drop works, carrying the growing tension Violet feels in her face, expressing the deep-seated trauma and regret with authenticity, and providing plenty of charisma in how she delivers some of the film’s punchier lines. Between this and last year’s It Ends With Us, Brandon Sklenar is carving out a niche for himself as the good man who serves as a symbol of hope for women escaping from abusive relationships. His role is rather one-note, but he has enough charisma to sell Henry as this ultra understanding man who, for some reason, does not leave this date early even with Violet spending most of the time away from the table. Jeffery Self steals the show whenever he comes on screen with his scenes often getting the biggest laughs. The sharp comedic writing helps, but it is Self’s delivery and exuberantly buzzy energy that makes them really pop. The sisterly dynamic struck between Fahy and Violett Beane is an asset as well, particularly with the pair’s natural comedic rapport.

Drop is familiar and never hides its conventions. It is illogical and outright nonsensical at times. But, it is suspenseful and like the works of Alfred Hitchcock, 80s and 90s thrillers, and countless other films it is inspired by, that is what it counts. Landon and writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach provide some punch with its comedy, but this is a straight-forward and well-themed techno-thriller that knows how to play the audience, keeping us on the edge of our seat and awaiting every new development.