DROP – Review by T.J. Callahan
Drop: Yahtzee!
Violet has had a rough life. She was in an abusive relationship for way too long. Then widowed. Now a single mother, she’s trying to balance work, home and a social life. When she finally decides to go out on a dinner date for the first time in years, Violet finds herself the middle (wo)man for murder.
Meghann Fahy is Violet. You may remember her as Daphne from The White Lotus Season 2. Violet is looking for hope and happiness with her young son. Maybe her date with a like minded photographer played by Brandon Sklenar (the only actor NOT fighting with someone from It Ends With Us), will turn things around? But as soon as she arrives at the rooftop restaurant, Violet starts to receive unsolicited text drops on her phone. The anonymous caller instructs her to tell no one, follow directions and if she doesn’t comply, he’ll kill her son.
Drop is high tech Hitchcock. Slow burn suspense for the social media savvy where everyone is a suspect. Director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) plays a game of chess with pawns aplenty. Every character is put in the line of fire whether they deserve to be or not. While Landon doesn’t let Drop fall flat, the film lacks buoyancy. The audience treads water for the first hour as the characters are introduced and the build up simmers. The last 30 minutes is a smash…literally.
The moral of the story is eat spam, don’t click on it. I was happy Landon chose to billboard the text messages above the character’s heads, like part of the scenery, so we boomers didn’t have to try to read the phone. That could have been the biggest nightmare. My husband Ricky only had 1 ½ 👁’s open. Drop rises to a 6.5 on the TeejFlixometer.
