Review - Drop: Now Playing in Theaters!

Drop, a new feature film playing in theaters now, is full of action and suspense. It centers around the first date between Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) and Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar). The two of them met through a dating app, so this is practically a blind date.

A bit before the actual date, we are shown that Violet is a widow has a child, a young boy. This would be the first time in years that she allowed herself to love again, or at least meet new people.

Before she goes to the restaurant where the date will be, Violet picks out her best outfit, dolls herself up, and leaves her son with her sister, Jen Gates (Violett Beane). The restaurant itself is very luxurious, standing at the top of a skyscraper with a nice view of the city. While Violet waits for Henry, she interacts with a few people at the bar and, from her excitement, the movie develops a suspenseful atmosphere centered around her doubts: What does he look like? Is he coming at all? Why isn't he here yet?

If these questions were all Violet had to worry about, then this would be a romcom, and not a suspense full of tension and adrenaline. After Henry gets there, Violet's world comes crashing down. She starts getting texts and memes on her phone that seem playful at first, but never stop coming and eventually turn threatening. She gets these texts through Drop, a sort of app or phone feature that is powered by Bluetooth - so these messages come from someone who is near them.

Check out the movie trailer below:

Who is behind all of this, and why?

The script seems inspired by the iconic board game Clue, which has you and your friends play detective to figure out who among you is the killer behind a murder. However, until you can figure out, one by one people end up dead. In Clue, it's all fun and games, but, in this new feature film, it's for real. So, Violet starts racing against time to keep her son and her sister alive. The two of them are being threatened by an armed assailant who has broken into their home, and, to keep them safe, Violet is ordered to kill her date.

As the entire movie is shown from her perspective, Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, who worked together on another feature film, Truth or Dare (2018), immerse us with the suspense and nightmare that the protagonist has to live through. When Violet finally decides to call the police, that's when she sees the armed assailant in her house. If she decides to talk to someone else in the restaurant, another threatening notification pops up, and she is being monitored even in the bathroom of the restaurant. So, it's a big trap, with no apparent escape.

Conflicted, Violet looks for answers and tries to solve the big puzzle behind this whole story. The answer is in Henry's job, and the fact she once experienced violence herself.

The script itself is well-written - it certainly includes a few details that might seem absurd, but we can all ignore it on behalf of poetic license, like any other action movie. Like it or not, it's a very novel ideal: a date between two people who met through a dating app, and another person using another app to threaten the protagonist. Then, there's the camera monitoring, either in the restaurant where they are or in her home where her son and sister are, and which she can see through her phone. To us, the viewers, it's like watching a reality show, so this film actually brings up many themes and current systems. These are the plot devices that move the story forward in this electrifying date with Brandon Sklenar.

Speaking of Brandon Sklenar, how did he do in Drop?

Brandon Sklenar is a rising American actor. He has worked on television before, namely in Westworld (2022) and The Offer (2022), but his success and world fame came from his work in It Ends With Us (2024), when he portrayed the kindhearted Atlas and won the heart of many fans around the world. He is already involved in many projects, such as the movie adaptation of Freida McFadden's The Housemaid, which includes Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney.

Sklenar has been conquering some space as the hero in many stories, so Drop's Henry couldn't be any different, even more so considering the risky setting: a date between two people who have only met online. For a good part of the movie, we are even led to believe he could be dangerous to Violet, and he, in a way, can be, but not for the obvious reasons. We eventually find out that his work as an investigative journalist can lead his friends and family into dangerous situations.

On the other side, we need to remember that Sklenar is the target, both in the movie and in the lens of the mysterious assassin, but he is not the focus of the movie. The adrenaline and drama in this movie are all created by the impeccable work of Meghann Fahy. Violet, despite all the pressure and tension created by her circumstances, has to pretend she is not being threatened so that everything goes according to plan. Henry needs to die right there in the restaurant, and Violet has to make that happen without making a scene. So, there are many layers in this movie that, when played out on the big screen, can make anyone breathless.

After all, is this a date we should check out?

I'd say that, out of all the movies I watched centered around blind dates, this is by far one of the best because it catches us off-guard and makes us anxious from beginning to end. The setting includes gorgeous people, an elegant restaurant, great food and drinks. It has everything to be perfect, but Murphy's Law is a powerful thing, and everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Besides the great script, what makes this entire story come together is precisely the setting and the decisions the characters make. Violet is in a high-end restaurant, having dinner with an interesting man, and in an environment, that, though glamorous, feels intimate. There's some nice lounge music in the background, and discreet couples and guests all around them. It is a very unusual setting for the number of things that happen in succession from the moment Henry comes into play.

The protagonist is cornered: there's a man pointing a gun at her son inside her house, but she's on a date and can't call for help or let her date or the other people around her know what's going on. If she does, she might risk everything, and, in the end, she still has to kill Henry to save her son.

This is just one of director Christopher Landon's signature moves. His filmography includes many movies with final girls and protagonists that can handle anything he throws at them. Particularly when they have to defend themselves or escape a maniac that wants to kill them. A few examples are: Happy Death Day (2017) and Freaky (2020).

These movies are certainly different from Drop, but they all share a few details, so, if you enjoyed these two movies, you'll probably enjoy Drop. After all, this director certainly likes exploring his protagonists as much as possible, and we all love watching him do it.

Violet certainly stands out in this movie, as, despite her weaknesses and her past as an abuse survivor, she is a strong woman who will do whatever she has to save her son and come out unscathed from this trap, that is, this first date with Henry. We the viewers suffer with her, but we'll also be praying that, somehow, things work out in the end.

Drop is worth your money in the theaters or on your streaming service, whenever it is released there. You'll laugh, bite your nails, and stick around throughout all of its 100 minutes, waiting to see what happens. You could even watch it on a first date and show them it could be a lot worse. If you're watching with friends or family, you'll be discussing it for a long time afterward!

Did you know Brandon Sklenar or other movies by Christopher Landon? Tell us all about it in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!