'Drop' is as Familiar as an LMN Movie
You know you're going into a standard thriller when the opening credits are as goofy as this film's. The names of the cast and crew appear on the screen against a blank background with shattered plates and other broken silverware. Why is this on screen? It's supposed to represent a dinner date that goes to hell in a handbasket. Also, why do directors who aren't household names start their movies off with titles saying "A Christopher Landon film?" Aside from movie buffs who know every director's name, who's going to know who Christopher Landon is? If his name were Christopher Nolan or Steven Spielberg, maybe then they could say "a (name) film?" It's just so ego-driven and pretentious. Luckily, Drop isn't a pretentious movie. It's more like a B film with a slightly higher budget and colorful cinematography that's a disappointing bore.
Drop starts on a strong note. We see Violet (Meghann Fahy) beaten half to death by her husband. He points a gun at her, then her child, then himself. After an incredibly disturbing opening, the film presents the aforementioned cheesy opening crawl that could have been cut so the story could progress. After the credits, the film flashes forward to the modern day. Violet is getting ready for a date. After the incident with her ex-husband, Violet is nervous about seeing anyone. She has her sister look after her kid while she heads to a fancy restaurant in Chicago that overlooks the city from a high viewpoint. Violet makes a financial killing as a therapist. She'd have to be, as she can afford this high-society restaurant.
Before finally meeting her date, Violet runs across two men in the restaurant. One is a Pianist, and the other is a man, probably in his fifties, who's waiting for his younger date. These introductions play a vital role in the whodunnit mystery of the film. When Violet finally meets her date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), her phone is constantly getting text drops from an unknown account. The messages are threatening, telling Violet what to do. If she doesn't adhere to the texter's commands, he will kill her family. If Violet says a word about what is happening to anyone, her sister and kid will be leaving home in body bags. Two people are harassing Violet. The text dropper and the masked thief invading her house. The tension is high and consistent, but it loses a lot of its luster when its plot is so laughably done.
There are only two possible suspects in the restaurant who are terrorizing Violet, making the third act reveal not much of a surprise. When the texts start to drop, the director tries to make the text messages dynamic so half the movie isn't just shots of someone's phone. I'm okay with that decision, but it looks like it belongs somewhere else. The texts superimplant themselves in the background in a 3D style you'd see from a movie trailer. Making a movie reliant on text messages can be a challenge. It's understandable why Christopher Landon incorporated the 3D title landscape for the film, but it looks completely out of place. I feel like I'm watching an ad for Dave & Busters. There's also a scene where the lights go down, putting a spotlight on some of the prime suspects in the restaurant. Yet another visual metaphor to help tell a fairly straightforward story to an audience as if they're idiots.
The flick's restaurant setting doesn't add as much tension as it should. If you were to play a drinking game where you'd take a shot each time Violet gets out of her chair, you'd be dead. Almost the entire film is Violet getting up from her table to try and find the text dropper. It's not very engaging stuff, and it gets extremely repetitive. When the film does reach its third act, revealing who the bad guy is, it goes in a very exaggerated direction that comes off as something you'd see in a typical Hollywood movie. Or even worse, a cheaply made TV movie. The exception is that Drop isn't as cheap as them. But it sure comes off like a knockoff product.
The final act of the film is rushed. The villain makes a very dumb panic decision that renders him more pathetic than wise. The climactic moment of the film, leading to its falling point has the markings of an LMN (Lifetime Movie Network) picture. The amount of corniness in the cinematic delivery is inadvertently comedic. When everything wraps up, I expected the credits to race themselves to the end so the next domestic abuser movie could play.
Drop is a film about how abusive partners can drive somebody mad. Yet, Violet doesn't have an ounce of energy, which is insane. From her last husband to the abuser terrorizing her in the present, Violet does an amazing job at keeping herself together. There are a lot of threads hanging from the flashback that are left unanswered. Such as why did Violet's deceased husband go nuts? What happened to Violet after the incident? How did she recover?
The film is entertaining, but it's disposable entertainment. The director takes a script that anyone could have written and weaves a dumb, guessing game thriller that gets old rather quickly. Drop is a standard thriller that has difficulty jumping between acts. The opening of the film is so disturbing that it will have the audience hooked, only for the picture to lose the viewer’s interest by the middle act of the film. Here's a movie not worth dropping into the theater to see. Just wait for it to be free on streaming if you need a brain break before bed.
