Don’t take ‘Drop’ too seriously

There are two types of thrillers: the “hold your breath until it ends” kind and the “talk through the entire thing, yelling as if the characters can hear you” kind. While the former option might be more likely to win an Oscar, it’s just not as much fun as the latter. For many thriller fans, there’s truly no better feeling than screaming “Just run away!” or “Don’t go in the creepy basement!” while throwing your hands into the air and spilling the popcorn onto the floor. 

“Drop” is exactly this type of movie. The film follows Violet (Meghann Fahy), a single mother and domestic abuse victim who attempts to overcome her trauma and agrees to a date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a kind and even-keeled photographer. Within minutes of arriving at the restaurant, Violet starts to receive “DigiDrops” — essentially AirDrops — from an unknown number. The drops start off calm but quickly become threatening as the sender says things like “Tell your date and your son dies” while revealing a masked assailant on Violet’s home security camera.

Honestly, the plot is silly and widely predictable. In addition to her date himself, Violet speaks to four seemingly random people within two minutes of arriving at the restaurant. If you’ve ever seen a slasher or thriller before, you can easily assume that one of these people is the killer, and the rest will be dead or severely injured before the movie’s over. But its predictability doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable to watch. Like any good thriller or slasher protagonist, every choice Violet makes is either completely wrong or unexpectedly clever. The action, although not totally innovative, is engaging. There’s no way to tell if Violet’s next move is going to work or fail fantastically, and it’s easy to get invested in seeing it all play out.

The film joins a recent trend of technology-based horror films from production studio Blumhouse — which also produced “M3GAN” and “Afraid” — but the editing sets it apart from the rest. At first, it’s clear the point is just to get to the action. The exposition is a bit lazily written, but that’s very quickly made up for by the sheer amount of strong choices made by editor Ben Baudhuin throughout the film. The messages Violet receives largely aren’t shown on her phone: Rather, they run across the screen in capital letters, changing in size and speed depending on their importance and Violet’s corresponding emotions. When Violet checks her security cameras on her phone, we see the camera feed blown up behind her, letting us watch both what’s happening at her home and Violet herself at the same time. Baudhuin pushes the limits in a genre whose editing is often purely for scares and suspense. He plays with lighting and sound in an incredibly unique and refreshing way, creating an immersive experience in technology and emotion alike.

In another unique genre twist, Fahy and Sklenar have real chemistry as Violet and Henry. If it weren’t for the screaming and stabbing, these two could pass as a rom-com couple (actually, can we get that movie right now?). Director Christopher Landon lets us get caught up in the sweeter moments for just a little longer than expected, making every violent “DigiDrop” notification that much more jarring. 

In the end, even with its standout editing and smart casting, “Drop” is exactly what you’d expect. The story is a little convoluted and ridiculous. There’s a lot of screaming and a decent amount of blood. The brief deep moments add just the right amount of realism to the story. But most of all, it’s fun. So long as you’re not looking for any in-depth commentary on society or the plights of technology, you’ll have a good time.