Drop (2025)

Universal Pictures

Widowed mother Violet is back out on the dating scene after a traumatic marriage, and to her horror, someone keeps messaging her telling her to kill Henry, her date, or her five year old son, Toby will die. Yikes. First dates are tough enough without murder and intrigue getting in the way.

Things start out normally enough. Violet’s nervous. Her sister, Jen, encourages her to glam up. Violet waits nervously at the restaurant bar and chitchats with Richard, an older guy who’s there on a blind date. Violet has a distinct advantage, though, because she met Henry on social media and they’ve been talking for a few months.

Henry, who gets to the restaurant a little late, seems to be a nice guy, which is why Violet shrugs off the messages at first. She and Henry even joke about who could be messaging Violet. It could be the guy who’s waiting for his sister. It could be the crazy waiter who hams it up every time he opens his mouth. It could even be Henry.

What’s even creepier is that whoever is sending the messages is clearly watching Violet. Everything she does, the mysterious sender comments on, and just in case the whole thing isn’t torturous enough, she can see an intruder on her home security camera, lurking around the house while Jen and Toby read a story in Toby’s room.

Violet has to pull some fast ones to hide what’s going on because thes sender has threatened to kill Toby immediately if she doesn’t comply. Henry is an understanding fella, but even he has his limits, and the sender tells Violet not to let Henry leave. That turns out to be an easy task, as Violet and Henry bond over shared experiences with domestic abuse and what it’s like to move on from that. They even order shots, which will become important later.

I know I’m being cryptic about what happens, but it’s too good to spoil. This movie is not so much about throwing things at us as fast as it can; it’s more about drawing a slingshot as far back as possible before letting go, and when it lets go, it lets go.

It’s also great at keeping us guessing. There are red herrings galore, mostly concerning who’s sending the messages and why, not to mention who else could be involved. It’s completely implausible sometimes but very effective. Some have pointed out that it’s unfortunate that a movie like this has a domestic abuse angle to it, but within the context of the story it turns out to be a great motivator for Violet.

There was a lot of decency happening, character-wise. Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar have a really nice chemistry, although things seem to be more friend-y as opposed to sparks flying. Then again, we don’t get a chance for sparks to fly because there’s too much going on.

And oh, gosh, the waiter, Matt, can be annoying, and I mean that in the best way. He keeps what’s already a very tense movie from getting too morose; after a while it’s both groan-inducing and a relief to see him coming.

Drop is a pleasantly diverting ride that’s all too rare in film today. Everyone at my screening walked out smiling, me included.

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Drop is currently in theaters. Rated PG-13.

My grade: A-

Principal Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Sarah McCormack, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Ben Pelletier, Travis Nelson, Saiorse Hayden, Fiona Browne, Stephanie Karam, Michael Shea, Niamh McHenry

Directed by Christopher Landon.

Written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach.