TL;DR – Drop is uncomfortable and unsettling but also deeply compelling. It’s one of those thrillers that has you on the edge of your seat, wondering if anyone will make it out alive.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Drop Review –

Even though film is an old visual medium, it is always trying to connect with and incorporate modern technology. While some films like Searching take that concept to the extreme, others sit back and pick the lazy option and just show a message pop up on a screen. It takes a lot to have modern technology fit naturally into your movie. But today, we look at an entry that just might pull that off.

So, to set the scene, Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) is a single mother to Toby (Jacob Robinson), and that and her work supporting victims of spousal abuse and coercive control have meant that she has not gone on a date for a very long time. But today is different; her sister Jen (Violett Beane) is coming over to babysit, and tonight, she is going out on a date with what seems like a perfect gentleman who has been chatting to her for months and has not asked for a feet pic once. Her date, Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar), is taking her out to a fancy restaurant called Palate, with a view right over the Chicago cityscape. It could be a perfect date, right up until she starts getting obnoxious messages on her ‘Digi-Drops’ app. They are annoying, and she is about to turn the app off when it tells her to look at her home security cameras and do whatever they ask her to do, or her sister and son are dead.

There is a lot to like about Drop, and one of those is how claustrophobic they make it. Even though all the characters are out in public, the restaurant, with its special elevator entry, is almost an isolated bubble. Practically, the restaurant has only three sets: the reception, main hall, and bathroom. By limiting the vantage points, you increase the feeling of how stuck Violet is in this situation. This is only amplified by the way they chose to incorporate the technology, with text instructions looming over Violet, becoming oppressive with each command.      

That setup of the restaurant also helps in continuing the mystery of who the mastermind behind this crime is. Seating the couple by the window gives them a magnificent view outside, but it also means that you can see every customer at the restaurant nearly all the time. This gives you a wide array of suspects that constantly shift throughout the film. Is the over-the-top server here on their first day? Is it the lady behind the bar that is a bit too friendly? Is it one of the prom kids causing a scene? Is it the creepy due that is waiting for his sister? The weird piano dude? The guy on his first date that should be better at that at his age? The restaurant manager that is always everywhere? Or is it her own date manipulating her? It also covers the increasingly odd moments and behaviours in the film.

Overall, I would say that Meghann Fahy does a fantastic job of playing someone caught in what might be the second-worst day of her life. You do really feel for her and the situation that she finds herself in. Brandon Sklenar is fantastically charming, which is what that character desperately needed to be. Without spoiling it, I also like how the main villain got to get their metaphorical moustache twirl moment. Structurally, I would say that it did start to lose me a little towards the end of the second act before they dramatically shifted the tone and brought you back for the ending. While there is not that much action, I did appreciate that it took notes from Upgrade. Also, I liked that every point the set up in the first act got some sort of resolution.    

In the end, do we recommend Drop? If you like thrillers or a good suspense movie, then absolutely. I will say that it looks like it got edited down to a PG-13 in America, and I am not sure how that would affect a film like this, which depends on those big moments. Have you watched Drop? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.If you liked Drop, we would recommend to you Carry-On.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Drop
Directed by – Christopher Landon
Written by – Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach  
Music by – Bear McCreary
Cinematography by – Marc Spicer
Edited by – Ben Baudhuin
Production/Distribution Companies – Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes, Wild Atlantic Pictures & Universal Pictures
Starring – Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan Spring, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks & Travis Nelson
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 12; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: PG-13