Drop: Textbook Texting Thriller Drops Logic for Thrills

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B

Time was when a first date could be considered a wholesome ritual unmarred by the distractions of algorithms. But surveying any café or restaurant, you’re likely to see couples attending to their devices while sharing a table, suggesting that the reach of social media has permeated the sacred boundaries of date night.

Drop, from director Christopher Landon — son of the late television icon Michael Landon — is the latest social-media suspense-drama to take an exaggerated leap across the ethers in a highly unlikely yet entertaining thriller.

The film opens on an uncomfortable scene of domestic violence — not something you'd expect would segue into the cute-and-clumsy routine of someone experiencing first-date jitters.

In stark contrast to the graphic opening is the sunshine-washed home of Violet (Meghann Fahy) and her adorable, sitcom-perfect son, Toby (Jacob Robinson). Despite Drop being Robinson’s first feature film role, he is no stranger to public scrutiny, having been a mainstay on YouTube and other social platforms.

Robinson gives a solid performance, and his recognition as a social media star adds to the film’s underlying theme.

Much of the movie’s POV belongs to Violet, a therapist who counsels abused women — a tidbit of information that seems to serve no discernible purpose beyond cashing in on an opportunity to be ironic… unless it’s meant to convey Violet’s ability to channel her trauma towards something positive.

If that’s the case, then it’s time for her to get out there and find a decent man. On board with this is Violet’s carefree sister Jen (Violett Beane). Violet agrees to leave Toby in Jen's care and take her first reluctant step back into the dating scene.

Her date takes place in a rooftop restaurant high above a glittering metropolis, a setting that evokes nostalgia for The Towering Inferno and hope for the return of 70s-style disaster films. The camera scans a mélange of potential victims, suspects and villains.

There’s Richard (Reed Diamond), the sad-sack middle ager and Diane (Fiona Browne), his unimpressed blind date; Phil (Ed Weeks), the lounge-lizard piano player; Connor (Travis Nelson), the overly enthusiastic waiter and film’s blatant comic relief. There’s also Cara (Gabrielle Ryan) the concerned bartender who’s seen it all; the officious hostess (Sarah McCormack); and Matt (Jeffery Self) a loitering socialite who inexplicably manages to be always in Violet’s way.

Then there is Henry (Brandon Sklenar), Violet’s date. Henry arrives late and full of apologies but is charming enough to forgive and handsome enough to be wary of. Just as the evening settles into a promising rhythm, Violet receives a text message inviting her to play a game. She declines. Then comes another. Then another.

What seemed harmless at first quickly turns creepy before becoming unmistakably threatening. Soon it is clear that not only is someone keeping close tabs on Violet, but someone is also in her house holding Toby and Jen hostage at gunpoint.

From here, Drop pivots into full Hitchcockian paranoia. Violet, forced to keep the text secret or her son dies, repeatedly excuses herself from the table, leaving Henry alone with nothing but a menu and a glass of Malbec, his manner growing from concern to impatience. It can be like watching a toddler unable to stay seated at the table.

Drop thrives on improbability, scattering logic like marbles from a shattered bowl, leaving the characters scrambling to keep the story’s internal logic afloat. But Fahy and Sklenar navigate the shifts in the film’s tone and handle the near acrobatic efforts it takes to maintain believability.

Drop is neither profound nor plausible. But it is timely and, as a cautionary tale told in an era where first dates can live or die on how often we glance at our phones, a lot of fun. But buying into the outrageous premise depends on your tolerance for high-stakes nonsense and your patience with neurotic dinner partners. Thankfully, I have experience with both.

Drop. Directed by Christopher Landon. Starring Meghann Fahy, Jacob Robinson, Violett Beane, Reed Diamond, Fiona Browne, Michael Shea, Gabrielle Ryan, Travis Nelson and Jefferey Self. In theatres April 11.