Blumhouse might be dipping their toes into the video game world, kicking goals with last year’s horror release, Fear the Spotlight, but their bread and butter remains quirky horror concepts that keep you on the edge of your seat while also occasionally having a bit of a giggle. Drop is the latest thriller in this entertaining category, coming from director Christopher Landon, who is building a solid resume in this type of storytelling after making Happy Death Day and Freaky, previously.
In Drop, you need to suspend your disbelief, and imagine that you’re in a world where AirDrop is on everybody’s device, including location tracking, and that people don’t just turn it off after the first stupid meme or random nude gets sent their way. Single mother Violet (Meghann Fahy) is setting out for her first date in years due to a traumatic incident that still haunts her. This incident kicks off the film, setting the dark tone of Drop, before the date-night preparations begin, with the help of her plucky sister and neuro-diverse son.
“Drop does an excellent job of keeping the tension high…”
What follows is a date night that quickly turns sour, as she is harassed via getting strange messages airdropped to her device. What starts out as creepy memes, quickly evolves into something a lot more malicious, and it turns out Violet is unknowingly involved in something deeper than she could have anticipated.
The setting of Drop gives it a very “bottle episode” feeling, as the date itself and about 90% of the film takes place on the 38th floor of a Chicago skyscraper. Considering the targeted messages must be sent by somebody within 50 feet, everybody in the restaurant becomes a suspect. “Why doesn’t she just turn her phone off?” you ask? Well, through the nanny-cam’s in her house, she can see that her son and babysitting sister are not alone, and she needs to cooperate if she wants to see them make it through the night.
Drop, visually, does a lot with a little. The setting of the restaurant does a lot of heavy lifting, but rather than simply showing us her phone screen constantly, the messages threatening Violet are shown digitally plastered across the walls, giving them an eery, with deep bass tones adding to the dominating vibe whenever she receives another warning. I liked this effort to show the messages in different ways; it would have been boring and certainly less scary if we simply kept seeing colourful text boxes pop up on an Android.
Drop also isn’t afraid to have some serious conversations among what is a rather silly premise. Violet’s date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), is a handsome photographer who seems like a genuinely nice guy and adds a lot of levity to ease the tension, while also being up for a bit of deep and meaningful when the mood strikes. He’s worried about Violet and the messages she’s receiving, and perhaps might be one of the most patient men ever to grace the silver screen, given how much he puts up with on what might go down as the weirdest date ever. Other bit characters at the restaurant add to the pool of potential villains or goofy distractions; Jeffery Self, in particular, stands out as an eager-to-please waiter on his first night of the job, just as keen to test his improv skills as he is in keeping the drinks flowing.
A concept that will make you want to double-check your phone settings to ensure AirDrop is indeed switched off, Drop does an excellent job of keeping the tension high, leading to an exciting finale when it all comes crashing down and the real nefarious reasons behind the threats are unveiled. Meghann Fahy carries the story, showing just the right levels of desperation and composure as she tries to figure out how to get everybody out of this one alive. With some neat twists and turns along the way, Drop is a satisfying, breezy thriller.
Drop is in cinemas now.
—
Checkpoint Gaming attended a screening of Drop as a guest of Universal Pictures Australia
About the Author
Luke Mitchell
he/him
Luke spends his time making radio, playing video games, binge-watching TV, getting unreasonably invested in wrestling, hosting bear events and hanging out with his beautiful pets.
