Cinema from the Spectrum

We’ve all been on bad dates at least once in our life. That might be a perfect premise for any great horror movie, because it just so happens that it’s something that’s been done so many other times before in stories all about domestic abuse. Christopher Landon is aware of this, but he’s doing the best he can to have fun with it. That all comes down to the fact that he’s trying to lean into the silliness of the concept he’s working with while also embracing that there’s a genuine dread that can come forth with the idea that someone could be using modern technology to play some sort of a very cruel prank. It’s not a very loaded concept, admittedly, but there’s still a whole lot of fun to be had with it either way and just as Landon had done with Happy Death Day 2U and Freaky prior to this, he makes a seemingly innocuous concept feel very enthralling.

Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a widowed woman about to go on a date for the first time in years. It’s a restaurant where everyone seems to look classy, and her new date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar) seems like she’s found a perfect match. But while there, she ends up getting sent a series of anonymous text messages that first come in the form of innocent but silly memes before it turns out she’s instructed to do something horrible, otherwise her son and younger sister will be killed. There’s a whole lot that one can do with the entire concept of AirDropping a series of ominous messages to an unsuspecting victim, but the willingness to lean into the ridiculousness of such a conceit only ensures that the stakes are raised as high as one could hope they would be in here.

This whole idea is a very silly one, but it never stops Christopher Landon from delivering a thrilling whodunit. Even from the first meme that we see Violet receive from an anonymous restaurant patron (given that these drops are coming from someone who’s within 50 feet of herself), you’re left wondering who within a supposedly very high-class restaurant would want to keep tormenting Violet like this. Given the fact that we’re introduced to her own ordeal at the start of a film reeling from the aftereffects of an abusive relationship, it’s no wonder that she would feel unease about potentially going on a date again – but Landon wastes no time with giving us that same sense of dread while also having at least some fun with the silliness of this concept.

Meghann Fahy, whom you might probably be familiar with following her appearance on HBO’s The White Lotus, is a whole lot of fun to watch in here. Through the nature of this ordeal that Violet is enduring, Landon is commenting on a world where abused women cannot fend for themselves even from those who would be willing to help, especially if the scars still remain within their head. It’s not an unfamiliar territory for the genre’s own confines, but it also helps with presenting Violet as a hero whom we can identify with. Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach never want to let this whole idea turn her charming date into the last-minute hero, because there’s no real way of telling that this nice guy demeanour would just be a way for another abusive man to enter her life.

Drop might be a camp film first and foremost, which seems to come at extreme odds with the seriousness of the subject matter here. Yet Landon is undeterred by the classification as such; given how the horror and thriller genres have often been a front for such emotional experiences. It’s silly, but even Happy Death Day had suffered from the fact that Landon never really lets these moments stick their landing before throwing in one last twist as a little wink. It seems so intent on reminding you that this is silly and meant to be fun, undercutting the potency of the more serious subject matter that comes into play here. It’s not unusual to see genre films address such matters too, but Landon can’t quite achieve such a balance that works.

Still, Drop knows that you’re in for something very erratic and delivers on all fronts. It’s a very fast-moving film at that, which might help sell the film as a roller coaster ride full of twists firing on all cylinders but without leaving you a moment to breathe. To a certain extent that might work in Landon’s favour, especially because it captures a sense of nervousness running through Violet’s mind. Granted, it’s a very silly premise but everyone’s committed to selling it as a thrill ride – so you can only expect it’ll jump the shark every now and then. That’s fine, but it also can’t be helped but felt that if it were trying to comment on the psychological conditions of abuse victims, it seems inappropriately handled.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Universal Pictures.

Directed by Christopher Landon
Screenplay by Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
Produced by Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller
Starring Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Ben Pelletier, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson
Premiere Date: March 9, 2025
Running Time: 95 minutes