DROP: A First Date Gets a Throwback Thriller Twist

A first date takes a disastrous turn when a woman becomes entangled in a deadly game. Starring Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar, Drop has the feel of a throwback thriller with a playfully modern twist. It effectively uses technology to enhance its mystery, providing a suspenseful ride.

Violet (Fahy) has been healing from an abusive relationship for some time. While focusing on helping others in similar situations, she is also raising her young son, Toby. Recently, she’s matched with a hunky photographer named Henry (Sklenar) on a dating app. But has been reluctant to meet in person.

With some encouragement from her sister, she finally agrees to dinner at a swanky high-rise restaurant. Once she arrives, she starts getting weird photo drops sent to her phone. At first, they seem like childish memes, but they soon escalate, revealing that her son is being held hostage until she kills her date.

Drop captures all the best elements of early 2000 suspense thriller. Think of films like Red Eye and Disturbia; the latter we’ll come back to. The film boasts a tight script, thanks to Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, which drives its mystery while crafting a clever yet pragmatic protagonist. And though I was apprehensive going into the film, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Especially how it uses its high-concept ideas.

Of course, it’s easy to dismantle if you overthink things. But that’s also what kept bringing me back to those films from 20ish years ago. Those structured, punchy thrills inspired by Alfred Hitchcock that filmmakers like David Fincher have continued to carry the torch in.

Another one of those filmmakers is Drop‘s director Christopher Landon, whose earliest work was writing the aforementioned 2007 thriller Disturbia. In my house, we consider that to be a perfect modern take on the Hitchcock classic, Rear Window. More recently he’s focused on horror-comedies, with films like Happy Death Day and Freaky, or this year’s Heart Eyes. But Landon has a talent for capturing classic genre elements. In this film, he maintains that skill while also bringing dynamic energy to the storytelling. Even keeping the single location engaging throughout.

It keeps you locked in by playing with your perspective of characters, placing everyone under a cloud of suspicion. The entire supporting cast delivers enigmatic and subversive performances, which makes the film even more enjoyable to analyze as you try to figure out who is behind the twists and turns.

Despite having several supporting characters, the film feels intimate between Violet and Henry. Fahy and Sklenar have incredible chemistry and are ridiculously likable. As the film weaves in and out of drama, it still finds time for delicate moments between the two, ironically making it a perfect date movie.

Overall, the film strikes a nice balance of tension, where the writers and director thrive. Everything culminates in an action-packed final act that really allows the character Violet to shine in a new way.

Throughout the film, they do a great job of slowly revealing the incident in Violet’s past — the moment that caused her to withdraw from romantic relationships. The character is well-written with regard to how she’s coping with that trauma. She’s very much still healing and I enjoyed how they didn’t have her girl-bossing her way out of the current dilemma she’s facing. She feels grounded and relatable.

There’s just something so entertaining about an escapist suspense film, but also one that doesn’t take itself overly seriously. Drop was a nice return to a succinct and charming thriller, even sprinkling in some humor here and there. It’s a fun 95-minute experience with a tightly wound plot, endearing performances, and some great action. Enough that I’ll forgive it for awkwardly trying to convince us it takes place in Chicago when it was filmed in Ireland.

Drop is in theaters now!