Brandon Sklenar, Chicago, Christopher Landon, drama, Drop, Ed Weeks, film festivals, Gabrielle Ryan, Jacob Robinson, Jeffery Self, Meghann Fahy, Michael Shea, movies, Reed Diamond, reviews, Sarah McCormack, SXSW Film and TV Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Travis Nelson, Violett Beane
April 9, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Christopher Landon
Culture Representation: Taking place in Chicago, the dramatic thriller film “Drop” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A single mother, who’s on her first date in years, gets Digidrop phone messages from a stranger, who orders her to kill her date, or else her son and sister will be murdered.
Culture Audience: “Drop” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and suspenseful movies about people being held hostage in various ways.
Even though the thriller Drop gets utterly ridiculous in the movie’s last 15 minutes, this entertaining movie succeeds in delivering suspense and some intended comic relief. The performances elevate the story, which is far-fetched but not entirely impossible. In this tale of a single mother who goes on a first date (dinner at a restaurant) with a man she got to know online, she finds out within minutes of their date starting that her son and her sister are being held hostage. In order to save their lives, she has to kill the man who’s on this date with her. The motives and the culprits are revealed in the movie.
Directed by Christopher Landon and written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, “Drop” had its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. Although “Drop” has been described a horror movie, it’s more of a mystery thriller. The movie isn’t complete fluff because it has themes abut recovering from the trauma of domestic abuse. The protagonist of the story is an abuse survivor, whose decision making is affected by abuse experiences that she’s had in the past.
“Drop” (which takes place in Chicago) begins by showing one of several flashbacks to a terrifying incident that happened about four years before the main story take place. (“Drop” was actually filmed in Ireland.) Violet Gates (played by Meghann Fahy) is bruised, battered, and being theatened by her ex-husband Blake (played by Michael Shea) at her home. Another flashback shows that the ex-couple’s toddler son Toby is nearby in his crib.
Blake is yelling at Violet and threatening to kill her. At one point, a gun comes out, and Blake ends up dead. The last flashback scene reveals what happened right before Blake died. It’s the movie’s way of saying, “Don’t assume you know the whole story if you’ve only seen parts of it.” That’s also the underlying message of the entire movie, which is an intense whodunit mystery about the people behind the sinister acts that take place.
The present-day part of the story in “Drop” takes place when Toby (played by Jacob Robinson) is 5 years old. Violet moved to Chicago with Toby to start a new life. Violet works as a psychologist whose therapy clients are often abuse survivors. She is going on her first date in years, presumably her first date since the death of Blake. The man she’s meeting for her date is a photographer named Henry Campbell (played by Brandon Sklenar), whom she’s been talking with online for about three months.
Violet and Henry are meeting at an upscale restaurant called Palate, which is in a high-rise building with gorgeous views of Chicago. Violet is very nervous about going on this date. Her sarcastic sister Jen (played by Violett Beane) has come over to Violet’s place to babysit Jacob. Jen gives fashion advice on what to wear, such as telling Violet not to wear something she would wear in an office but to wear something sexier in case the date goes well. Violet wends up wearing a scarlet red velvet jumpsuit.
Jen tries to assure Violet before the day to not be scared of what could happen. Jen comments on the men who could be Violet’s potential dates: “They’re not all Blake … You deserve to be happy. And you need to get laid.” Toby knows that Violet is going out on a date and asks Violet: “Does he know about my dad?” Violet answers yes, with sadness in her eyes.
On the way to the restaurant, Henry texts Violet to tell her that he’ll be about 10 minutes late. While she’s waiting for Henry at the restaurant’s bar, Violet meets some people in the restaurant, where anyone could be a suspect for the terror that will ensue. A somewhat uptight hostess named Lindy (played by Sarah McCormack) and a friendly bartender named Cara (played by Gabrielle Ryan) are among the first people she talks to in the restaurant.
While walking to the bar, Violet accidentally bumps into a stranger in his 30s named Connor (played by Travis Nelson), and drops her cell phone in the process. Violet makes a profuse apology as an understanding Connor gives Violet her cell phone. Violet notices that Connor is by himself and is frequently on his phone.
At the bar, Violet is seated next to a man in his 50s named Richard (played by Reed Diamond), who strikes up a conversation with her. Richard says he’s also meeting someone for a first date and is nervous about it. Just like Violet, Richard said he first made contact with his date online. Richard, who confuses Facebook and Friendster, sheepishly says he’s not very savvy when it comes to technology.
As Violet and Richard are talking, a pushy Brit in his 40s named Phil (played by Ed Weeks) interrupts the conversation and tries to flirt with Violet. Phil somewhat backs off when Violet tells him that she’s waiting for her date. It’s later revealed that Phil is the restaurant’s piano player.
Henry eventually shows up and says he’s sorry for being late. Henry is an easygoing and polite guy whose job includes working in the press office for Chicago’s mayor. Henry has brought a bag that has his camera because he says he doesn’t want to risk leaving his camera in his car.
Violet and Henry are seated at a window table. Violet tells Henry her sister Jen is babysitting Toby tonight, and Violet says she wants to keep her phone on the table in case she gets any emergency messages from Jen. Henry says he doesn’t mind at all.
Their server is named Matt (played Jeffery Self), who is a hyper motormouth and is intended to be the character that makes viewers laugh the most because he doesn’t know when to shut up. When Matt finds out that Violet and Henry are on their first date, he reveals that this is his very first shift as a server at the restaurant. Matt then tells them that what he really wants to do is be a comedian, and he’s taking classes at Second City.
Within a few minutes of being seated at the table, Violet gets messages via Digidrop, which is supposed to be similar to AirDrop: People can share messages, photos and videos in the same WiFi network. It’s mentioned at one point in the movie that people need to be within 50 feet of each other to send and receive Digidrop content.
At first, the messages are photos that seem to be some kind of prank. But the messages grow increasingly ominous. In one message, there’s are two photos shown side by side. A photo caption says: “Torment a Stranger or Torment Violet.”
Violet shows the messages to Henry, who takes her phone and tries to find out who’s sending the messages by walking around the restaurant with the phone. Henry discovers that the Digidrop has blind spots in the restaurant’s lobby and kitchen. The restaurant also has surveillance cameras in several places.
Henry isn’t able to find out who’s sending the messages because many of the people in the restaurant seem to have their phones out. There’s a table of teenagers who look like they’re dressed for their prom. Henry and Violet assume that the teenagers are sending the messages to random people as a prank.
And then, Violet gets this message: “Check your security cameras.” Violet is terrified when she checks her security cameras at home and sees a masked gunman (played by Ben Pelletier) is in her kitchen. She soon finds out that this gunman has taken Jen and Toby hostage.
Violet is told by the person who’s messaging her that if she leaves the restaurant or tells anyone about what’s going on, then Toby and Jen will die. The person sending the messages also says that Violet is being watched everywhere she goes in the restaurant. Violet then finds out what this mystery criminal wants: Violet has to kill Henry by putting a lethal liquid in his drink.
The reason why Henry is the target of a murder plot is revealed about halfway through the movie when Violet is ordered to do something else related to this crime. And why was Violet chosen to murder Henry? The person behind this murder plot wants Violet to be framed for the murder. Violet tries not to panic in this high-pressure situation that becomes more dangerous as the story goes along.
As preposterous as this plot might sound, “Drop” is the type of movie that has enough tension and believable performances, it’s easy to get swept up in this cinematic ride. Fahy carries the movie with a thoroughly engaging performance. The other cast members also do well in their roles, with Sklenar showing good chemistry with Fahy.
“Drop” has excellent cinematography that sometimes replicates what someone might be feeling during a panic attack. The movie skillfully puts on display the fears and anxieties that people have about things that could go wrong on first dates and abuse of technology. Viewers have to turn off some brain logic when watching “Drop,” but the movie hits all the right areas when it comes to delivering an adrenaline-pumping mystery.
Universal Pictures will release “Drop” in U.S. cinemas on April 11, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on April 7 and April 9, 2025.