Movie reviews: Hollywood and Indie, specializing in independent comedies, dramas, thrillers and romance.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Drop: Movie Review
A suspenseful thriller with real characters delivering maturity and emotional depth.
Christopher Landon’s Drop is an entertaining thriller. A popcorn flick that touches down for some reflection on a heady topic. I was excited for this movie based on the premise alone, I was enjoying the suspense and intrigue for the first half and then after the film found a way to give both main characters emotional depth, I was in love with it. A stylish, simplistic thriller with real characters and an ending that will melt every heart.
2025
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Screenplay by: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar
Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a single mother getting ready for a first date (in a long time) at a fancy restaurant. The first scene gives a glimpse into what has brought Violet to this point in her life, but I much prefer how the film handles that topic later on in the second half so I am being vague here on purpose. The restaurant that her date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), has picked is a high-end, high-up fine dining venue on the 38th floor of a skyscraper. He’s a photographer but in the political field, working for the mayor of Chicago. While he might be rich enough for a restaurant like this, he doesn’t dress like it. The characters would fit better in a more down-to-earth restaurant, but the story would not. The movie needs this glamour and the type of rich shady people all around.
Shortly after Violet arrives at the restaurant, a bit earlier than Henry, she starts receiving this weird, potentially sinister air drops, which of course quickly turn very sinister. The trailer likes playing up the idea that it could be her date himself that’s threatening and stalking her. Thankfully, the movie itself never plays into that idea. The audience and Violet both have a sense of trust with Henry which is crucial since for most of the movie, Violet is trying to figure out who is after her and trying to do what they ask of her to try and keep herself and everyone else alive.
Between The Perfect Couple last year and Sirens and this, Meghann Fahy is really starting to make a name for herself. She has a strong screen presence and is able to add so much depth to her characters. The same goes for Brandon Sklenar, although Henry has one significant aspect in common with his character from It Ends With Us. Violet and Henry are both easy characters to root for, but more than that, there’s a maturity to both of them. They’re not naïve or flighty. They are both grounded, real people which is what adds the emotional weight to the film that it so desperately needs.
The movie gets ungrounded very quickly when we approach the climactic ending. It’s still very entertaining and it will have already won over most viewers. Also, if you’re going to re-create an upscale restaurant in a skyscraper, you have to go all out, which it does. Drop is an entertaining suspenseful thrill ride which never lets up until the very end. An ending that is so enjoyable I want a sequel despite the fact that there is no logical reason this film should have a sequel.
