Film: Drop
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane
Director: Christopher Landon
Rating: 3/5
Runtime: 100
Christopher Landon’s “Drop” is a thriller that unfolds in a couple of locations with few characters. Violet (Fahy), is introduced in a scene where the father of her son Toby (Jacob Robinson) ends up dead. We don’t know whether Violet killed him or not. Thereafter, in fact many years later, Violet returns to the dating scene and goes to dinner with Henry (Sklenar), who she’s been texting. He’s booked a table at a fancy Chicago restaurant named Palate, but he’s running a little late, so she waits for him at the bar. Violet has time to kill so she chats up with other people at the restaurant, -the hostess, bartender, piano player, and a fellow on a blind date. Then Violet starts getting a series of drops to her phone using an app called “DigiDrop.” They’re coming from someone no more than 50 feet away—starts off as playful but then the messages get dark quickly. Apparently, a masked man is at Violet’s home, ready to murder Toby and Violet’s sister, Jen (Violett Beane). Violet has to do everything the mysterious dropper says, or her sister and son will be murdered.
Though the storyline is far-fetched the director doesn’t give you much time to think about the probability of such a thing happening – if at all? The movie is a thrill ride as it knows what it wants to do and doesn’t waste time doing it. It is a film built around new technology which it uses smartly to pitch forward a scary scenario that seems plausible while you are absorbed in the visual perception of it. Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar have the personality and charm to keep you engrossed in their date from hell. The camera lingers on lovingly as they struggle their way through a nightmare date night.
The set-up is such that Violet can’t tell anyone. The first half of the film consists of Violet trying to find help but unable to do so because the cameras are all pervasive. Violet’s history of being a domestic abuse victim is also played up for some effect.
Produced by Blumhouse Productions, the tone is moody with the opening credits sequence indicating a ticking clock. We understand the seriousness of the threat when we see the image of a masked gunman in Violet’s home and a very explicit threat to Henry’s life if she doesn’t do everything she’s asked.
Her charming date patiently bears with all the disruptions because he has a history too. Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach’s script smartly avoids the regular tropes. This is a tale of a survivor forced once again to do whatever it takes to save herself and her son.
This is a thriller that uses technology, displaying the text of each message onscreen for the audience to be in on what`s being conveyed. But Violet is the only one privy to the messages, and she has to think fast and follow the impossible instructions given to her.
There’s something very selfish about the way these films are structured. Everyone else becomes expendable. But then for a thriller to work the focus mustn`t shift from the main character and that’s exactly what this film adheres to. The director and scriptwriters leave no time for us to ponder on a plot that doesn’t bear too much close scrutiny.
This film is a high-concept thriller with a simple premise that gets the audience involved from the very start. Drop may be over-the-top but its also entertaining, managing to make you suspend your disbelief during its brief runtime. It takes considerable leaps in logic to construct its premise but is efficient in pointing out the inescapability of the situation. The plot may not make all that much sense, but the audience is too hooked on Violet’s predicament to bother about that.
