Very few movies I see today legitimately feel like they’re happening right now to someone who could be a friend or family member. That’s especially true for thrillers, which either focus on globe hopping or go the period piece route to avoid modern conveniences. Drop wonderfully swerves the opposite direction, and gets a lot of bonus points for really trying to tell a story a person living in 2025 might actually believe could happen in today’s world, AirDrops and all.
After narrowly escaping a horrific abusive relationship, Violet (Meghann Fahy) is finally ready to move on. After an outfit assist from her babysitter/sister Jen (Violett Beane), Violet meets Henry (Brandon Sklenar) the man she matched with on her dating app, for a posh dinner at a very nice Chicago restaurant. Already nervous, Violet’s night takes a darker turn when a mysterious person keeps AirDropping her messsages, that slowly get more sinister as the date goes on.
The biggest drawback for directors, especially thriller directors, is that little thing in everyone’s pocket. Smart phones are little “plot killers” as any person in danger can just call the police, ruining the movie. Drop says “challenge accepted.” The writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach see the surveillance terror possibilities of someone being harassed constantly with a barrage of messages that disappear in seconds like AirDrops do, and those home security cameras suddenly turn into little devices of horror, as we see how helpless Violet is to protect her family when she’s not there. Violet also fights tech with tech, using things like chat bots and distance measures to figure out who might be the bad guy and how to bring them to justice. But when Violet tries to sus out who might be targeting her? EVERYONE’s on their phone, looking down. It’s impossible to know what’s going on if you’re her. Director Christopher Landon smartly doesn’t have her read off her phone all the time, instead projecting the messages outward to make the movie more exciting for the audience, and giving ideas for other directors trying to make thrillers set in the present day.
The other big thing on Drop’s mind: modern dating. This movie really inserts as many “first date horror stories” as it can and then some. Poor Violet just wants a quiet date with a “nice” guy she met online. But modern women like bartender Cara (Gabrielle Ryan Spring) see the nerves on Violet’s face, and the two quickly develop a little wordless shorthand to indicate of Violet’s in danger. While on the date with Henry, this is all time worst case stuff: she’s gotta sus out what his deal is with his mysterious job, and if the person she’s talking to is the real guy or some projected bs artist, while ALSO you know, not trying to get her family killed since she’s already worried about her son 24/7. There’s also a clueless server (Jeffery Self) and other distractions like a man on a blind date (Reed Diamond) that would terrify someone already as on edge as Violet is because of her past relationship experiences. So while some of the character choices strain credulity, Drop gets more right than it doesn’t about first date jitters, and amplifies those fears to the max.
If you can’t tell by now, Drop is hella fun, and I couldn’t recommend it more. With one small exception: filmmakers, I realize you couldn’t film in Chicago but want to set your movie there which is fine. I can get over the weird CGI skylines. But what ChatGPT jargon did your script fall from? It’s like you Google Searched “things to do in Chicago” and used tourist words for them. “Oh I ride the El train too; the other day I went to the famous comedy show at Second City!” Yikes! I will gladly be your Chi town consultant for very cheap to help you next time, I promise!