Drop – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by: Christopher Landon
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jeffery Self

With a mere 95-minute run time, this film was already ticking boxes for me, even before I saw it. After a slew of extremely lengthy film releases of late (most of which could lose half an hour), any movie that can get the job done and dusted in that length of time is a winner in my book.

It’s also filmed in Ireland, which is another thing in its favour as the Convention Centre in Dublin doubles as a posh restaurant called Palate. It is here that Meghann Fahy’s widowed single mother, Violet, meets Brandon Sklenar’s Henry, whom she has been talking online to for several months.

Her dead husband was abusive, and the circumstances of his death are sketchy, so she is understandably wary about her first date in forever. It’s been so long she doesn’t even have any suitable clothes to wear, but somehow manages to pull a low-cut, slinky red jumpsuit from her widow’s wardrobe.

When she starts getting messages from a “drop” (basically a version of Apple’s AirDrop but without the trademark violation) and it becomes clear someone is watching the couple, she gets understandably angsty. Nothing can prepare her for the twist the correspondence takes as she is asked to do something unthinkable while the mystery sender threatens to kill her young son if she doesn’t comply.

The majority of this film is set in the restaurant, which only serves to add to the tension. It is a simple premise but executed very well (even if the underlying reason for the messages is somewhat convoluted). Literally everyone is a suspect as Violet and Henry try to figure out who is menacing her, and there are plenty of curveballs to ensure you won’t guess the culprit in the first five minutes, leading to an exciting game of cat and mouse for the viewer.

Fahy and Sklenar have a lovely chemistry and elevate what could have become a hysterical psychological thriller into something engaging and eminently watchable. It doesn’t outstay its welcome, and although it defies some laws of physics with the ending and almost doesn’t stick the landing, overall it works. It is a tense but not stressful watch, although I wouldn’t advise it for a first date!