DROP – Review

Ah, at the start of Spring what’s more romantic than a first date? Well, at least there’s the possibility of romance. Yes, that initial meeting is often the start of a cinema love story, or often a comedy (including lotsa’ ‘rom-coms”). But that’s not the case with this week’s new release from the folks at Blumhouse (that should give you a huge hint). In this flick, the jitters of a dinner with a new “potential” turns into outright terror when the evening’s intimate meal is “cyber-hijacked” by an evil manipulator. The couple at the center of this thriller barely make it to the appetizer before the “meet cute” gives way to suspense when some deadly messages begin to DROP.

This story actually starts with a scene full of violence and terror, though it’s unclear about its “placement” in the tale. Is it a “flash-forward” or “flashback”? That’s revealed soon as the film does a jump cut to the present, where a young widowed mother named Violet (Meghann Fahy) works as an online therapist. When the live streaming “video session” is complete, she begins to prepare for her big evening, her first real date since her spouse passed. Her adorable six-year-old son Toby (Jacob Robinson) helps her pick out an outfit, but that’s scrapped when Violet’s kid sister Jen (Violett Beane) arrives to babysit. Finally, her “ride service’ arrives to take Violet to Chicago’s “hot” new dining experience, a “sky high” rooftop restaurant named “Palate”. Her date’s a bit late, so Violet hangs out at the bar, meeting a nebbishy middle-aged man also on a blind date named Richard (Reed Diamond), Cara (Gabrielle Ryan), the friendly bartender, and the sleezy “piano man” Phil (Ed Weeks). Luckily, Violet can see what’s going on at home through a streaming app of her many security cameras. At last, her date arrives, a hunky photojouralist named Henry (Brandon Sklenar). Things are going well until Violet’s phone “blows up” with “airdropped” adamant demands that she “play a game”. Henry takes a look at her phone, but can’t locate who is sending the “drops” (it has to be someone close by). After a few more “aggressive nudges” the unknown “player’, he (or she) shows her the live streaming feed inside her home. In a room away from Jen and Toby is a person dressed in black holding a gun. Then the “phone fiend” ups the “ante”. Do what he commands, tell nobody, or her sis and son will be executed. Violet’s date has turned into a tormenting “trap” as she must choose between aiding a murderer (yes, Henry’s the target) in order to save the lives of her family.

Much like most first-date flicks, everything rests with the casting of that dating duo. Both stars really support this unique concept, though most of its “weight” is shouldered by the talented Ms. Fahy. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with her work on several popular cable and streaming TV shows, but she certainly makes her mark as a real movie star with her compelling take on the thriller genre heroine lead. Fahy has terrific comic timing and charming warm rapport with her on-screen son and sis (kudos to Ms. Beane, who’s full sweet sibling snark). The Violet character becomes anxious and more than a bit twitchy as she begins the long wait at the “foo-foo” eatery. This is followed by some sunny “patter” with Henry until the “game” kicks in. Fahy shows us, through her darting eyes and tight body language, that Violet is terrified, but is calling on every brain cell to find a way through this cyber “quicksand”. At every twist and turn, Fahy has the audience right with her. As Henry, the date, Sklenar doubles down on the rugged cowboy charm we saw in THIS ENDS WITH US (where he was really under-utilized), as he woos Violet with his self-depreciating humor, while trying to be sensitive to her history (naturally, they had chatted online). Then he is a tad thrown off by Violet’s dashing about while glued to her phone and offers to call off the Dinner (though we see his disappointment mixed in his bewildered eyes). The “bar mates’ are also very good, from the awkward Diamond, to the encouraging Ryan, and the “skeevy” smarm of Weeks (much as his role in the very-missed “The Mindy Project”). But the real supporting actor MVP may be the engaging, over-enthusiastic Jeffrey Self as the first-night waiter Matt, who seems more interested in stories about his Second City improv class than in selling the “specials”. Now there’s some superior comic relief.

This is directed by horror veteran Christopher Landon, who takes a break from the supernatural elements of his previous works (including the HAPPY DEATH DAY flicks) to give us a grittier modern tech ode to the high-concept “Hitchcock-ian” suspense drama. Part of the credit must be shared with the screenwriting team of Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, who deftly mixed rom-com cliches with whodunits, while making satiric jabs at snooty eateries (the hostess podium is at the end of an intestine-like tunnel). And though most of the action takes place on the dining floor, Landon makes lots of creative visual choices to illustrate Violet’s torment. The messages to her float above her head, and in one sequence, the walls of a bathroom stall become the security cam images of her home. Plus the action is sometimes slowed to crawl in order to prolong the tension, and make us ponder what our actions would be. It’s a pretty polished “nail-biter’ until the troublesome third act, as the story takes a brief turn into DIE HARD-style chaos and dives into several “home invader” tropes while really over-playing the “child-in-jeopardy” manipulation. Luckily, the film is shot superbly, with an unfamiliar view of the “Windy City” (could it actually be Louisiana or…Ireland) and has a taut score by Bear McCreary. You might consider this to be a modern tech-savvy take on the classic “B” pictures of yore, though few recent thrillers have as many interesting ideas and talented leads like DROP.

3 Out of 4

DROP is now playing in theatres everywhere