Widowed – in suspicious circumstances – and traumatised, single mom Violet finally takes a chance and meets photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar) for a date at a high-rise Chicago restaurant. As she’s settling in, Violet’s phone starts pinging as she receives notifications from the drop app – anonymous, sinister messages from someone within fifty feet of her. The unknown contact has a masked hit-man in her house, holding her son and sister hostage – and sets her a series of tasks which begin with stealing the memory card from Henry’s camera and escalate to pouring poison in his drink.
Scripted by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach (Truth or Dare) and directed by Christopher Landon, Drop is a tight, suspenseful exercise in contrivance. 95% of the film is set in Palate, an insufferably pretentious restaurant which is an ideal backdrop for a blend of jittery first date disaster rom-com and Scream-style nasty phone games. We’re given a nice range of sketchy suspects – if he’s not actively evil, the improv comedy waiter (Jeffery Self) must be the least reassuring presence possible in this situation. Heroine Violet, who has developed grit during a nightmare marriage, plays a good game as she continually spins the situation to try and get out of the bind she’s in.
It’s the kind of hokum which falls apart if you think too hard, but keeps all its plates spinning. Sklenar’s almost-too-understanding nice guy sets off alarm bells – if a mystery dropper wants him dead, that’s not necessarily a character reference. However, it’s Fahy’s show. Landon has a knack for showcasing the skills of underappreciated leading ladies – Jessica Rothe really ought to be a breakout star after her work on his Happy Death Day twosome and Kathryn Newton got a boost from Freaky. Fahy gets a demo reel workout as rom-com ditz, intrepid heroine, tiger mom, impromptu detective and abuse survivor role-model.
Drop will be released in cinemas on 11 April
