MOVIE SCENE CANADA
DROP
​I Universal Pictures I April 11, 2025 I 100 mins. I
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88%
* As of 4/8/25
CAST:
Meghann Fahy, Brandon Skienar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks
DIRECTOR(S):
Christopher Landon
First dates are nerve-wracking enough. Going on a first date while an unnamed, unseen troll pings you personal memes that escalate from annoying to homicidal? Blood-chilling. Director Christopher Landon returns to the thriller genre with the playful, keep-you-guessing intensity he perfected in the Happy Death Day films with this of-the-moment whodunnit where everyone in the vicinity is a suspect . . . or victim. 'Drop' is jointly produced by blockbuster genre houses Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes. Emmy nominee Meghann Fahy, breakout star of White Lotus and The Perfect Couple, plays Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years, who arrives at an upscale restaurant where she is relieved that her date, Henry (It Ends with Us’ Brandon Sklenar) is more charming and handsome than she expected. But their chemistry begins to curdle as Violet begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone. She is instructed to tell nobody and follow instructions or the hooded figure she sees on her home security cameras will kill Violet’s young son and babysitting sister. Violet must do exactly as directed or everyone she loves will die. Her unseen tormentor’s final directive? Kill Henry. The film also stars Violett Beane (Truth or Dare) and newcomer Jacob Robinson as Violet’s sister and son; with Reed Diamond (Moneyball), Gabrielle Ryan (Power Book IV: Force), Jeffery Self (Mack & Rita), Ed Weeks (The Mindy Project) and Travis Nelson (The Lake) as the restaurant’s staff and diners. Drop is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Landon, the writer-director of last year’s We Have a Ghost and the zeitgeist-rattling Blumhouse hits Freaky, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and the Happy Death Day films. The film is written by Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach, writers of Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island.
REVIEW BY: Darren Zakus - 4/8/25
RATING 4.5 out of 5
Drop delivers a nail-biting, and at times hilarious, whodunit thriller led by a truly excellent Meghann Fahy, that lets Christopher Landon’s excellent directorial style make this thriller one unbelievably entertaining ride.
If there is one thing audiences have come to expect from Christopher Landon, it is pure entertainment. From the great horror comedies he has written and directed like the Happy Death Day films, putting a slasher spin on the romantic comedy by co-writing this year’s Heart Eyes, and giving us the body swap slasher Freaky that the genre had been missing for years, his films always pack a great mixture of laughter and shock. After being announced as the director for the latest Scream film and departing due to the behind the scenes drama, which was a dream project for Landon, he quickly boarded the latest Blumhouse thriller Drop alongside The White Lotus breakout star Meghann Fahy, and it's easy to see why. Not only does Drop allow Landon to unleash his full arsenal of directorial tricks that he has used previous projects to create his signature mixture of thrills and entertainment, but with Fahy slaying in the lead role, Drop becomes one exhilarating whodunnit that is the perfect date night movie for anyone couple looking to spice things up with some serious thrills.
We all have had bad first dates, but what recently widowed Violet experiences in Drop is truly taking the idea of a bad first date to the next level. Playing out as a deadly whodunnit as Violet tries to figure out which restaurant guest is the one sending threatening drop messages to her phone, coercing her to perform actions against her will, screenwriters Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach are playing with all the elements of the whodunit genre. Multiple potential suspects, each with a phone at their disposal and an off putting quality about them that could make them the perpetrator behind the messages, a secret that someone would commit murder to keep hidden, shocking events and the claustrophobic feeling due to all the security cameras in the restaurant, the stage is perfectly set for the story to unravel in. While it plays out in a straightforward manner and with a premise that requires the audience to check their logic at the door, what ensues over a quickly paced ninety-five minute runtime is one exciting and harrowing thriller. From moments of laughter as the awkwardness of the first date plays out and the quirky personalities restaurant inhabitants take centre stage, multiple red herrings as to who the individual sending Violet the drops is, making it nearly impossible to guess who it actually is; and a constant building of tension as the threats against Violet increase, Drop captures the essence of an old school Alfred Hitchcock thriller that makes for one wildly entertaining watch.
Lots of the film’s success is attributed to Fahy’s excellent leading performance as Violet. Capturing the jitters of app-based dating and returning to the dating world after the death of her husband, Fahy grounds the entire film with an honest performance of this single mother willing to do anything to save her son while also trying to outsmart the individual who has put her in this deadly situation. From an unbelievable charm and romantic spark with her co-star Brandon Sklenar, a tenacity and resourcefulness as she tries to outsmart the unknown restaurant guest sending her drops, and a true sense of terror and strength captured with her every facial expressions, Fahy is stellar from start to finish and proves herself the perfect casting choice for this lead role. Sklenar is wonderful as Violet’s date Henry, bringing a serious smoulder that creates instant fireworks between himself and Fahy, while also bringing a compassionate humility to his character that is a comforting presence in the film while also upping the stakes as you don’t want to Violet to follow through on what she is being forced to do.
Supporting Fahy and Sklenar as the various inhabitants of the restaurant are Gabrielle Ryan as the ever watchful bartender Cara, the hilarious Jeffrey Self as their waiter Matt who is on his first day of employment at the restaurant, Ed Weeks as the misogynistic pianist Phil, and the sweet Reed Diamond as Richard, the elderly man on a blind date. They’re all great in their roles, as is the rest of the supporting cast not previously touched upon, and in doing so, they all keep the audience guessing as to who is behind the drops as they ensure you can see the potential in every other individual Violet crosses paths with in that restaurant.
Being set almost exclusively in the restaurant, the set and set design plays an important role in influencing the tone of the film, and the set built to become the restaurant works wonders. Elegantly designed to create the high scale restaurant perfect for a romantic date, but specifically laid out to ensure that Violet and Henry are in plain sight of everyone else in the restaurant but where it is hard for them to spy on others without it being obvious fuels the tension of the story and gives the individual sending the drops the opportunity to hide in plain sight. When required, the sound design is effective and helps to fuel paranoia felt by the audience as they can hear her internal stress as well as every sound in the restaurant that could set her off. Even with some choppy editing in the film’s first act, It all comes together under Landon’s slick direction, which not only knows what to focus on to balance the ever increasing tension and comedic moments, but keeps the story moving along at a great pace that ensures that there is never a single scene where the audience is not entertained nor thrilled nor both.
When Blumhouse has a good film on their hands, they often end up with great hits amongst viewers, and it's hard to imagine that Drop won’t be another hit for the studio. Continuing a great working relationship between director Christopher Landon and Blumhouse, Drop captures everything that audiences love about a good whodunit and infuses it with Landon’s great mixture of undeniable thrills and laughter to create one unforgettable thriller that you won’t want to miss. Anchored by the outstanding Meghann Fahy who ensures that Violet is one unstoppable force to be reckoned with in the film, Christopher Landon delivers yet another certified hit with Drop that not only calls back to some of the great classic thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, but ensures that it is one non-stop thrill ride from start to finish that grips viewers and doesn’t let go until the credits begin to roll.