A silly, pulpy mystery entirely sure of its own conceit, “Drop” combines tech paranoia and the looming specter of abuse to create something surprisingly taut and entertaining. Directed by Christopher Landon — best known for his involvement in the “Happy Death Day” and “Paranormal Activity” movies — the film’s complicated setups are executed with a deft and capable hand. Although set in a fine dining establishment, it’s a junk-food thriller fried to near-perfection, balancing the tensions of kidnapping, conspiracy and murder with those of a nerve-wracking first date. It’s crisp and delicious.
After a hair-raising prologue involving a couple pointing guns at one another (a scene whose purpose clicks into place much later), “Drop” gently introduces its protagonist, widowed mother Violet (Meghann Fahy), as she prepares for her first date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a handsome photographer she’s been speaking to online. Her snarky, supportive sister Jen (Violett Beane) helps her get ready for the evening and babysits her adorable 5-year-old Toby (Jacob Robinson) as Violet heads for the upscale restaurant Palate, whose winding, oaken hallways lead to a warm and decadent atrium exposed to the city below.
The ornate skyscraper restaurant, built entirely for the production, plays host to a number of innocent interactions between Violet, the colorful staff (Jeffery Self’s intrusive, overly enthusiastic waiter is a particular delight) and a few idiosyncratic patrons at the bar where she waits for Henry to arrive. This intro slyly combines the butterflies of first-date jitters with setups for a number of potential culprits (and of course, red herrings) for when Violet is eventually tormented over the digital airwaves. As the night goes on, she’s given increasingly complicated instructions to get ahold of some items on Henry’s person, and eventually, to cause him harm, lest a masked gunman at her home — visible to her over her security camera app — hurt her sister and son.
At first, these orders come to her by way of recognizable internet memes sent as drops (what iPhones call AirDrop and Androids refer to as Quick Share). Although the image macros subside in favor of straightforward, threatening text — which Landon economically projects on the environment around Violet, rather than cutting to her phone — continuing to use the confines of drop technology keeps the movie’s clock ticking. To send something this way, the sender must be within a range of about 50 feet, i.e. within the restaurant itself, yielding a fun and fervent paranoia as Violet looks around the establishment, and focuses in on numerous individuals, who begin appearing to her under spotlights. The plot might seem repetitive, going back and forth between Violet trying to follow the anonymous rules and worming her way out of them to seek help (only to be outsmarted), but the movie’s exciting, stage-like formal flourishes and its disorienting lensing keep things moving smoothly.
Violet initially makes the easygoing Henry aware that something is amiss, but she’s soon forced to clamp down on how much information she can share. As an innocent person caught up in a larger web, her story resembles clockwork thrillers like “Nick of Time” and “Grand Piano,” but with sly emotional double entendres informing its structure. As the tension builds and Violet discovers just how many different ways she’s being surveilled (including via the restuarants security cameras), she also has to maintain an air of normalcy, which lets “Drop” very much be a first date drama as well, allowing the viewer to become genuinely invested in her dynamic with Henry. That her sister and child are in danger is, of course, a worry that one can intellectually rationalize, but after a while, the emotional crux of the movie starts to become whether Violet can find romantic happiness again, or if she’ll be responsible for screwing up this encounter.
This may seem like an absurd concern, given that Henry stands a chance of ending up dead. However, Fahy and Sklenar share the chemistry of dazzling movie stars and provide the appearance of immense depth and complexity when the film broaches the subject of the abuse Violet has faced in her past. While it’s not exactly revelatory in its observations on interpersonal power dynamics, the mere mention clarifies why exactly this premise works so well. The all-encompassing manipulations of its seemingly omniscient, omnipresent villain instill Violet with a known helplessness — one likely to be familiar to any viewer who’s had to contend with toxic, narcissistic personalities. That Henry has a similar story to share with Violent ensures that he understands her, even if he’s unaware of her exact predicament.
After a while, even when the movie swerves into an action-heavy final act, what you’re left rooting for in “Drop” is less about the mystery itself, or even about the safety of a child. Rather, it’s about the leading duo winning a second chance to connect, and to turn their sparks into a flame, should they make it out alive. Any film that can transform so self-assuredly into a romantic thriller is worth your time, no matter how ludicrous its premise.
