Drop is the latest film from director Christopher Landon, who previously gave audiences the horror films Happy Death Day and Freaky. Clearly, Landon likes to craft genre films that work to deliver on compelling and fun concepts. Of the two aforementioned films the former plays into the idea of knowing the day your life will end, while the other is a compelling take on Freaky Friday where a young woman and a serial killer switched bodies.
For this film, Landon fully knew he was speaking to the smartphone generation while drawing immense influence from Alfred Hitchcock.
The story centers itself around Violet (Meghann Fahy). She’s a widow with a turbulent prior marriage. Now a single mom with a young son, the balance of work, single motherhood, and the traumas of her past relationship weigh down on her. She finally has the chance to go on a date and quite frankly, she is shaky, often telling herself “it’s just a date.” Enter Henry, her date (Brandon Sklenar). He’s patient and charismatic, and upon them finally meeting, gives off a great sense of humor. Things are going great. What could possibly go wrong?
How about an unseen psychopath sending her airdrops on her phone which in turn force her to do dangerous and horrific things with the threat of harm toward her and her loved ones being on the line if she does not comply. Matters are made more complicated when she has to keep a poker face with her date or her deepest fears will come true. The setup is there and the ride feels promising.
For the first half of the film, viewers are given a fun guessing game. To add a little humor, there’s a funny waiter added into the mix who even gets the honor of being one of the narrative’s suspects. But eventually, you run out of suspects and for the last half, the plot becomes a daunting walk toward the climax that reflects an unrealized vision. Once the payoff hits, I’d say it’s more of a shortchanged return on the spectator’s investment.
Christopher Landon clearly looked to craft a Hitchcock film that exists during the generation of smartphones, an object that has clearly offered some of the most convenient advancements for humanity but has also become such a detriment to fully taking life’s great experiences. I have to the give the movie credit for taking a cell phone, something I often feel has ruined modern movies (a big reason filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and the Coen Brothers have been so relegated to crafting period pieces at this point in their careers), made it the story’s central prop, and found a fun idea to apply around it. But a stronger film and more realized vision was necessary to make this fully work. After the first half, I found myself lacking interest and that even hurt the film’s big reveal by the end. It reflects a chef with a great recipe, all the right ingredients, but a major series of missteps halfway through the process of cooking their dish.
Final Thoughts
Drop has a concept that nods to the glory of a great Hitchcock film and one that really speaks to the technological advancements of the modern generation, but that is where the double edged sword comes in. It has a full 95 minutes to do something great with its concept, but loses its edge halfway through. It is proof that you can have all the ingredients for a juicy thriller, keep your audience on the edge of their seat with an intriguing build up, but if you cannot keep the momentum from start to finish, you’re going to lose your audience and that is exactly what happened with my experience watching this fiilm.
2.5/5
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Adam Khromachou has been a lifelong film watcher. It all began in 1989 at the age of 6
when his mom took him to see Tim Burton’s Batman. From then on, he knew cinema
was his passion. By the age of 8, he was learning about actors, directors, and even
began exploring the history of cinema. At the age of 12, a big turning point occurred
when he watched Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. It was the moment he really started
diving deep into films outside of the action and comedy genre and looked to explore
more classic cinema through breaking down the film’s notable influences. He obtained a
Bachelor's and Master's degree from Arizona State and in 2021, he launched his TikTok
channel Sunset Loner Cinema where he reviews and ranks films, as well as providing
in-depth cinematic retrospectives. His content can also be found on Instagram and
YouTube. He is also an avid user of Letterboxd and considers himself a cinema purist,
believing that films should be experienced in theaters without interruptions or
distractions. His favorite films include Pulp Fiction, GoodFellas, Cinema Paradiso, Jaws,
and The Big Lebsowski. He is also the co-host of the podcast Before We Were
Streaming.