Drop (2025)

Christopher Landen's Drop not only knows exactly what it is- it executes its premise and and holds your attention. For all but the final fifteen minutes of its run time.

Meghann Fahy's Violet is a therapist for survivors of domestic abuse, and in the film's opening sequence it explains why that might be. We open with a stark image of her being held at gunpoint by her ex-husband and father of her child, before we fast forward a few years to her on a video call with a client, so we're in no doubt of the territory we're in- and if you've read the plot you'll know the story.

Violet is about to go on a date, the first time she's ventured into such a world in four years. But she's been messaging Brandon Sklenar's Henry for a few months now; it's high time they met in person- and her sister is only too happy to babysit Violet's son while she meets him for a very expensive meal in a top floor restaurant with a city wide view.

Once she's there she begins to receive 'Digidrops'- essentially Airdrops but without a cooperate fee attached for the producers- threatening her and forcing her into tasks while on the date or her son will be killed- and she can't tell her date anything, of course.

We've seen it all before; Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth (2002) immediately springs to mind, as does Wes Craven's terrifically stripped down Red Eye (2005); both of them far better films than Drop.

However, Landen's ability (combined with a couple of very engaging lead performances) to hold your attention and keep you fully engaged is mightily impressive in itself. The premise of Drop almost instantly filled me with dread when I heard it- this sort of minimalist thriller is hard to get right, despite the apparent simplicity of the project. But Drop- for eighty minutes- is thoroughly enjoyable, and employs some logistical tension that was rather surprising.

The whole thing is ludicrous, of course it is. But it's perfectly fine to make a ridiculous film that does its job to perfection, and maintain your enjoyment levels however implausible the whole thing is. Where Drop eventually loses the plot is where it needs to make a decision about its final fifteen minutes- and chooses badly wrong.

One reason Phone Booth works so well is that it doesn't leave the titular phone booth, pretty much until the credits role. Drop clearly can't decide how to tie things up, and despite Schumacher's wonderful blueprint set over two decades ago- Drop decides to leave the scene of the restaurant and in the most absurd fashion possible.

It's a real shame that it ends on such preposterous note, because Landen shows real promise and rather terrific execution until that point. Drop is absolutely worth a watch because it's thoroughly engaging, well acted, and is incredibly self-aware; right up until its nonsensical ending. 7.0/10