Final Rating: 3.5/5
Blu-ray Recommendation: Recommend
Ed. note: read our original review of Drop by Jeff Bulmer.
Drop, the latest film from Christopher Landon, quickly sets up the rules of the game, the players involved and the stakes and spends most of its runtime allowing viewers the fun of trying to guess who might be the person terrorizing our protagonist. Things get a little silly and the mechanics of the final showdown don’t quite work, but overall this will likely go down as a fun mid-budget film that makes stars out of the two leads.
Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a single mom who works as a therapist and hasn’t been on a date since things ended with her abusive husband. She finally is meeting up with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a photographer for the mayor, after months of chatting over a dating app. Their first date is at the upscale restaurant Palate, located on the top floor of a high rise business tower in Chicago.
Violet, already on edge due to being out of the dating game for so long apprehensively exits the elevator and into the gold hued swanky establishment and immediately is on high alert. She walks into a man where she clumsily drops her phone, her date is running late so she sits at the bar where a much older gentleman on a blind date thinks he’s her date and the piano player is drunkenly flirting with her.
Once Henry finally shows up, they get seated and are being served by the world’s most obnoxious waiter; he’s not some wannabe actor trying to drum up interest in his latest Second City show, he’s just a terrible improv student who is working on a sketch where he plays a hat on top of Alison Janney’s head, except the kicker is the hat is afraid of heights. You’re right there along Violet and Henry having the eyes roll into the back of your head for how cringe inducing the moment is.
But then things start to heat up. Violet starts getting digiDROP’s (a fake competitor to Apple’s AirDrop) where you can easily share files to another phone nearby. The catch is, you need to approve being sent something. Violet starts getting sent memes like Elmo Rise, Left Exit 12 Off Ramp and Dude With Sign, except they seem to be tailored for her and become increasingly threatening. Violet shows them to Henry, who assumes it’s likely the table full of kids going to prom nearby.
Things quickly escalate as the person sending the drops lets Violet know that they have someone holding her son Toby (Jacob Robinson) hostage and has knocked out the babysitter, Violet’s sister Jen (Violett Beane) and unless she does exactly what she is told, they both will be killed. It turns out that whoever is sending these threatening drops isn’t some bored high schooler, but someone with a vendetta against Henry. Violet has two missions, find out who is making her do these terrible things and why is Henry the target.
Early on we get the complete rules of how the film plays out. We learn that the antagonist who goes by “Let’s_Play” and uses a devil emoticon as a profile picture, knows who Violet is because when you open the app, you can see other people’s names and profiles. The app only works within 50 feet of the receiver, so the person is within the dining room with the corridor to the elevator and the kitchen too far away. That means they are within eye view of Violet and gives us a precise number of suspects. What makes it worse is when Violet starts looking around to narrow things down, everyone is on their phone so everyone has the ability to send her things.
Unlike an Agatha Christie murder mystery, where we slowly start to find out who had a motive or reason to kill the victim, here we get everyone acting suspicious. Guests peer across the room at Violet, the piano player stares at her while playing, the hostess tries to hide her cell phone from view and the guy on the blind date keeps comparing his date to the one happening at her table.
For the most part, this is a taut thriller that gets off and running with a bang. We are treated to Fahy’s performance, part nervous wreck, part woman who will do anything to protect her son. There are moments when the threatening stranger wants her to put on a happy face to obfuscate what she is doing and Fahy is able to switch from quivering mess to bright and cheerful in the blink of an eye.
Sklenar comes off as a bit too casual at the start, from the way he dresses to his lackadaisical speech pattern, but his quick wit and charming smile make him hard to resist. Especially once the banter between Violet and Henry heats up, their chemistry also shoots sparks.
The film falters once the reveal occurs of who is sending these digiDROP’s to Violet and she must work to save her son and sister from the masked intruder. The film which so far grounded itself in reality and believable scenarios, seems to be thrown out the window for one last set of thrills. Thankfully it isn’t enough to completely derail the film.
The true stars are the production design and the camerawork. The physical media release contains three making of featurettes including A Recipe For Thrills: Making Drop where Christopher Landon and the cast explain the intricate details of the set and how it was built. It was constructed on a platform, making it really feel like the actors were high in the air. There are plenty of exposed beams creating a gilded cage effect as Violet is trapped inside until she does what her tormentor wants. It looks and feels like a high end Michelin restaurant. The decor, ambiance and set up all are immaculate and would make anyone want to visit for their next special occasion.
The bonus feature also highlights the dynamic camera movements that make this movie look and feel so tense. From impressive tracking shots, to an overhead shot in the bathroom like no other to the most impressive cowboy switch stunt I‘ve ever seen. Films like Drop aren’t exactly known for their flashy camera work, but it deserves to be in the conversation for some of the best of the year. It reminds me of the work done in another Blumhouse produced film The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss.
In the bonus feature A Palate for Panic, we are treated to how the food helps tell a story. Landon and the food stylists were careful to set things up like a restaurant would operate in real time. Some tables are getting their appy’s while other ones are on the dessert course. Violet and Henry order wine and it doesn’t arrive two seconds later, it takes a few minutes as the bar is busy serving other guests as well. Henry’s steak is an actual piece of meat that Sklenar claimed was one of the best he had ever had. This type of realism doesn’t go unnoticed and helps audiences understand the reality of the world we are shown.
There are only three brief bonus features, plus a commentary from Christopher Landon, which isn’t much to work with, but they pack a decent punch in such a small offering.
The film is a total blast and is the type that upon rewatches you will look for the breadcrumbs set out to see the tormentor acting in real time. Along with Fahy and Sklenar the supporting cast that populate the restaurant are all memorable and delightful.
Thank you to Universal and Mandy Kay Marketing for the screener.
