Drop

Movie Name: Drop
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Christopher Landon
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Sarah McCormack, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson, Ben Pelletier
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

Writer/director Christopher Landon who has had a significant career in the thriller/paranormal genre is back, this time around directing a feature he did not write (his career took off after his participation in the "Paranormal Activity" franchise). The narrative focuses on the story of Violet, a single mom, who after a traumatic experience with her ex-spouse, now lives very comfortably in the Chicago area, working as a therapist specialized in abuse situations. She decides to go on a date with a man she's been interacting with from the dating apps, and asks her sister to babysit her young son Toby. She arrives at the restaurant a bit early, and her date is also running a bit behind, so she decides to wait by the bar. There she meets another man who mistakenly believes her to be his blind date. They part after a few niceties, and her actual date arrives soon after. While at the table she acknowledges some drop messages that have been coming to her phone, and the tone of those messages escalates, when she realizes the person has cloned her phone, and knows everything she's doing in the restaurant. The person on the phone demands she kills her date (by poisoning him), otherwise there's someone on standby by her home to kill her child and sister. Checking on the security camera, Violet realizes that is indeed the case. As she navigates the interactions with her very patient and kind date, Violet questions herself, if she's willing to do so, and how she can successfully get out of that predicament.

"Drop" interestingly reminded me of Anatole Litvak's "Sorry, Wrong Number", with the late, great Barbara Stanwyck, whose character was bedridden and heard of a murder plot over the phone and spends the film trying to thwart it. "Drop" isn't nearly as interesting, nor nearly as compelling as that film, but it tries to be economical in its narrative strategy, placing an abused and traumatized victim as the target of some nefarious people trying to do more wrongful things. And while the nugget of the storyline is indeed interesting and compelling, there's a whole credibility to the situation that takes implausibility to a whole different level. For starters, and that's enough to kill the entire premise of this film, there isn't a single male individual, of whatever sexual orientation he may be, who would tolerate even a third of the actions and behaviors Violet throws at him. A widower who spends all her time on the phone, checking messages from her son (or so she says), goes off to the bathroom and other places for considerable amounts of time, all of this while her date sits placidly waiting. As much as Mr. Landon illustrates the lethal aspect of the messages that are coming, the overall claustrophobic environment of not knowing where to turn and what to do, never truly comes across very explicitly. And Violet, while trying to stay cool and fresh so her date doesn't suspect anything, never seems truly frazzled or disconcerted by what is happening. It's a threadbare plot that doesn't really give much dimension to these characters, nor to the situation in which it drops them into. It lacks believability in what it sets out to illustrate, and that it's ultimately why it's not a very successful endeavor. The cast tries their best with the material they have, and while Meghann Fahy doesn't do much with her character (fairly generic), at least her interactions with Brandon Sklenar don't feel entirely rigid. The production is solid, with highlights going to Marc Spicer's cinematography, Susie Cullen's production design, and Bear McCreary's score. It's another miss for Blumhouse studios.