“Drop” (2025) is about a single mom, Violet (Meghann Fahy), on her first date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar) at Palate Fine Dining Restaurant which is perched on the top floor of a Chicago high rise building. As if dating was not hard enough, a mysterious person keeps air dropping menacing memes commanding her to kill her date, or a masked intruder will kill her son, Toby (Jacob Robinson), and sister/babysitter/personal stylist, Jen (Violett Beane). Can Violet pull the trigger to protect herself and her loved ones? Blumhouse’s latest film is an entertaining film but could trigger survivors of domestic violence and anyone who cannot stand seeing children in danger.
Massachusetts born actor Fahy is compelling and can carry a movie. She runs through a gamut of emotions as Violet, the mother turned unwilling femme fatale who must solve the mystery of who wants her date dead, why and how to stop everything without endangering her son. It is a trickier role than it sounds because for the suspense to last, Violet must seem capable of killing but unwilling to so even with so much at stake. She also cleans up so well that the average guy would not want to run screaming in the other direction at her inexplicable erratic behavior.
Sklenar does not just play the guy that women get if they survive domestic violence in “It Ends With Us” (2024). He must be smart enough to be magnetic, forgiving and understanding enough to seal the deal, but not such a pushover that he seems stupid and needs dumping. He must be worth saving and have enough value for the audience not to root for Violet to kill him. It does not hurt that he is a smoke show.
“Drop” is effective because the whodunnit aspect is compelling, especially since the restaurant is filled with so many people using cell phones. It could be anyone. I actually guessed the correct person early on, but it is because I recognized the actor as someone who plays iconic television villains. Even when a character is not a suspect, they are memorable. There is Cara (Gabrielle Ryan), the bartender who keeps a vigilant and caring eye on all her customers, Matt (Jeffery Self), a waiter and crowd favorite for being very into his job and a normal human being, Phil (Ed Weeks), the dissolute piano man, Diane (Fiona Browne), the annoyed blind date, Richard (Reed Diamond), the other person on the blind date, Linda (Sarah McCormack), the hostess who seems to keep an eye on everyone, and Connor (Travis Nelson), the guy always on his cell lurking in the lounge area.
“Drop” is limited to two locations: the family home and the restaurant. Both are warm and inviting places that wicked people pervert for their own purposes. The opening reveals that the shadow of death once hovered over her home, and this date is Violet’s chance to resume a full life of happiness. Cinematographer Marc Spicer and production designer Susie Cullen do a magnificent job of making the movie seem as if it was shot in Chicago [it was shot in Ireland] then transforming spaces into black holes as deep as a well for Violet to plunge back into while navigating inviting spaces twisted into PTSD pits. It is the visual representation that Violet has never left the past regardless of where she is and how much time has passed. If she wants to move on, she needs to learn how to not repeat the past, overcome her freeze or fawning response in the face of a threat, and learn how to fight.
Director Christopher Landon, who also wrote the HorRomCom “Heart Eyes” (2025) and a lot of the films in the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, has a knack for combining romance with a horrifying experience and making moviegoers root for the couple at the worst possible time. Landon and his collaborators may hold the key to solving the male loneliness epidemic: adore a woman unconditionally, and she may choose you over isolating and sticking with her crew and staying safe. The sound choices are brilliant because there are moments when the diegetic sounds disappear as if Violet and Henry are the only ones in the room. Violet chooses to let a little light into her universe without stars to get Henry to stay, not just to appease the tormentor, but because she wants him.
The screen gets split between reality and screen casting Violet’s cell phone, so viewers are constantly immersed in her mindset. He brilliantly chooses to use closed circuit cameras to symbolize the double-edged sword of surveillance systems: protection for the justly paranoid and subversion of those same tools for monitoring and control. Coping measures have limited use in this universe. The font in caps conveys being yelled at, and her tormentor unreasonably dominates her attention while expecting her to act normal. With this many resources devoted to pulling Violet’s strings, the cruelty over Violet seems like part of the fun, a two for one deal as if her existence personally offended her unknown batterers. Psychologically torturing women through technology is a thing in the real world too and framing Violet as the boogey woman that incel types resent and fear when she is a catch in a potentially happy couple seems to be the point. When couples are happy, men are called simps, and men in the shadows view the women as having sinister agendas using those men while the accusers sit alone, jealous and mad. See Ciara and Russell Wilson.
In a day and age when it is cool again to openly harm women on a global scale and expect an invitation to DC, Blumhouse’s “Drop” should not just be minimized as the latest film on their roster. It feels like the unofficial sequel to “The Invisible Man” (2020) and a hard stance against abusers, especially in domestic violence cases. The bar is in hell, and taking such a position is currently radical. It may explain why the ill-defined conspiracy intersects with government corruption instead of something less systemic.
“Drop” is not a flawless movie. In the real world, more women and girls, even those in prom dresses or in love, than men would pick up on Violet’s distress, but it is fiction. Cowriters Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, who has the longer resume, have improved since their previous project, “Fantasy Island” (2020), and can be forgiven for diverting from reality. The story is loosely based on a true story involving actor, writer and producer Olivia Sui as she had dinner with first time feature executive producer Sam Lerner and producer Cameron Fuller. It feels as if Sui should have gotten a credit.
“Drop” could work as a date movie if you are looking for a way to vet problematic guys. It is easy to get invested in the narrative without lingering too long after the credits roll. It is another film that could have been released on Valentine’s Day and is worth the ticket price if you want to enjoy grand accommodations then watch everything go to hell.
