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In the snoozer thriller Drop, a woman on a first date receives threatening AirDrops (sorry, DigiDrops) from someone nearby but the only suspense comes from what cringey thing she will do next to make her date even worse.
Meghann Fahd stars as Violet, an attractive blonde who overdresses for her first and potentially last date ever at what is presumably a ridiculously expensive skyscraper-high restaurant—staffed by overtly creepy piano players and annoyingly wordy wait staff. Her date Henry (Brandon Skenlar) is good-looking, normal, and casually dressed—in real-life he would have bolted due to all the hysteria, text messaging, breaks to the bathroom, and more that Violet subjects him to. Good thing she is hot and has a plunging neckline—men will suffer through a lot for that kind of thing.
Most of Drop has Violet communicating over text message to an unseen bad guy who wants her to do something terrible—if she doesn’t, her sister and son will get murdered. Thank God she can stay calm and toss back some vino.
This kind of one-room thriller can work, but Drop, mixed with early relationship banter and slow momentum, drags like the awful date it is. Director Christopher Landon fails to establish much sense of suspense, resulting in a one-note affair that doesn’t pulse in the way it’s intended. The one saving grace is cinematographer Marc Spicer, who does his best to keep the camera moving in compelling ways to keep this one from dropping straight into the drain. It doesn’t help that the bad guy’s plot makes no sense when you think about it.
Once the villain is revealed, Drop picks up for its climax. Landon, who made the entertaining horror-comedies Freaky and Happy Death Day, is a talented filmmaker—the excitement ramps up suddenly once he has something to show on screen. Sure, it’s completely implausible that Violet could do the things she does to rescue her family (why not call the police at that stage?), but you’re just so elated that Drop has finally found some life you don’t really care.
Though not without its merits and certainly not the most tedious movie you’ll watch, Drop is nonetheless a thrilling misfire, riveting more for its depiction of a bad date than as a cohesive suspense flick. Best to drop this one before you watch it.
Review by Erik Samdahl.