‘Drop’ – Review
Christopher Landon throws audiences headfirst into a full-throttle panic spiral with Drop, a slick, stylish thriller that weaponizes first date jitters and transforms them into a heart-racing, edge-of-your-seat experience. This isn’t your average swipe-right romance; Drop is a sharp, suspense-laden adrenaline shot that’ll leave you breathless and wondering who you can really trust when the lights dim and the entrées arrive.
Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a widowed mother who goes to an upscale restaurant to meet Henry (Brandon Sklenar), her charming and handsome date. However, her pleasant evening soon turns into a living nightmare when she receives phone messages from a mysterious, hooded figure who threatens to kill her young son and sister unless she kills Henry.
Known for subverting genre tropes and injecting fresh energy into familiar formats (Happy Death Day), director Christopher Landon once again proves he’s got serious chops when it comes to bending the rules and keeping audiences on their toes. With Drop, he strips things back to the bone and dials the tension up to eleven, setting his sights on the most unlikely battleground of all: a glamorous rooftop restaurant and one very uncomfortable dinner.
Enter Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy), a Chicago therapist and single mum who’s finally testing the dating waters again after a personal tragedy. Her match? Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a charming, swoon-worthy photographer who seems too good to be true. But just as their chemistry begins to bubble, things take a sharp, violent turn. Violet finds herself caught in a deadly game, manipulated by a faceless assassin who delivers a terrifying ultimatum: kill your date, or suffer the consequences.
What follows is a gripping, real-time descent into chaos. Violet is pushed to her mental and emotional limits, and Fahy nails every beat of the performance with jittery, raw vulnerability. Her eyes do a lot of the talking here, wide with panic, darting with suspicion, and burning with determination. Sklenar matches her with a magnetic, layered turn that keeps you guessing; can he be trusted, or is there more lurking behind that chiseled grin?
Landon masterfully orchestrates the tension, letting it simmer just long enough before boiling over in a third act that is pure chaos in the best way possible. Think Collateral meets Run Lola Run, with a little Gone Girl psycho-venom thrown in for spice. It’s fast, mean, and absolutely refuses to let up. There’s even a gritty mid-’90s thriller vibe i.e. Fatal Attraction with AirPods and rooftop cocktails.
If you’re craving something lean, mean, and bursting with nerve-jangling energy, Drop absolutely delivers. It’s a thriller with teeth, a premise that hooks you fast, and enough twisty suspense to keep your pulse pounding long after the credits roll. For anyone looking to make their next date night unforgettable, in the most terrifying way possible, this is the cinematic gamble you need to take. Just… maybe keep that exit route clear.
Image: Universal Pictures
