If you’re a genre aficionado and you see the name Christopher Landon attached to a new movie, you typically know what you’re going to get. Landon has become one of the most consistent directors in the realm of horror and manages to frequently surprise audiences with just how enjoyable many of his films are. The Happy Death Day movies and Freaky successfully delivered slasher versions of classic concepts like the time loop and body-swap comedies. Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse felt as if you plucked the boys from Superbad and thrust them into a zombie B-movie.
His movies are always enjoyable to watch. His latest, Drop, is a modern send-up to the Hitchcockian thriller. While you might scoff when you hear a new Blumhouse movie compared to the works of Hitchcock, especially one that relies so much on the concept of smartphones. Landon has defied expectations before, just remember how bad the marketing was for Happy Death Day and then how great the movie was. There’s nothing less cinematic than looking at the screen of a smartphone, yet that’s where Drop gets creative.
What Is ‘Drop’ About?

Violet (Meghann Fahy) is going through a tough time in life, especially after the death of her husband. Now a widowed single mother, Violet is finally about to take a massive step in the right direction and is going on her first date. Her date for the night, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), has arranged for a date at the Chicago high-rise restaurant Palate. Minutes after Violet arrives, she begins receiving strange image drops on her phone, threatening her with the “worst night of her life.” Thankfully, Henry seems understanding enough and intends to help Violet figure out who the culprit behind the messages is.
Violet’s date takes a turn for the worst when she is informed that a masked gunman has entered her home, and if she doesn’t do what she’s told, her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) and her sister Jen (Violett Beane) will be killed. Her task: she has to kill her date without letting anybody know what’s going on. If you go into Drop looking for a realistic movie, you’ll be disappointed. You can poke so many holes in the plot, but Landon directs with such confidence that you won’t be thinking about how easily Violet could escape her predicament.
The Phone (Thankfully) Isn’t the Main Character in ‘Drop’

Image via Universal

While Violet’s smartphone is omnipresent throughout the film, Drop finds clever ways to show text messages without relying too much on the phone screen. Violet’s the main character. Not her phone, which she can’t stop peeking at. Fahy gets her movie-star moment as Violet. She feels like the kind of actress that the genre filmmakers of the 50s and 60s would have loved. She is immediately likable, and she doesn’t carry herself like your typical damsel in distress. She’s smart, but she still makes mistakes. She seems to be a kind-hearted person, but she will also do what it takes to protect her loved ones. This marks Fahy’s first leading role after The White Lotus, and it hopefully will cement her as a major star.
A large reason why Drop works is because of Fahy’s charisma. It also helps that Sklenar perfectly plays the intimidatingly handsome Henry, who not only has great chemistry with his co-star but also has a certain kind of innocence within him. Once you might not expect an actor who kind of looks like a young Harrison Ford.
Drop is the kind of crowd-pleaser that’s hard not to like. We’ve seen movies with similar set-ups before, whether it be Non-Stop or Red Eye, but Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach’s script feels self-aware enough. It knows that we’ve seen movies like this before, and while it may not be meta, it also isn’t afraid to be goofy. Not that it becomes a full-on comedy, but without getting too much into spoiler territory, the movie is smart with how it uses memes. To keep it vague, it never once feels like the Steve Buscemi 30 Rock meme.
‘Drop’ Makes Good Use of Its Supporting Cast

Image via Universal Pictures

Most of the humor in Drop doesn’t come from the memes Violet is being sent. Violet is the sole focus of the film, and there’s never a scene she’s not in. However, the people she interacts with, both in her home life with her snarky sister and at the restaurant with the aspiring thespian Matt (Jeffrey Self), bring a sense of levity and relief to the movie. The movie never has the characters overstay their welcome to the point where they get grating. Landon keeps things concise and to the point. The movie keeps things simple, which is a large part of its appeal. The twists don’t feel convoluted, and the script makes sure to tie every knot together nicely.
While there are plenty of thrillers that excel at keeping things ambiguous, Drop is not that kind of movie. It’s the perfect date-night movie, one that will have your audience gasping, laughing, and interacting with the screen. Drop is a movie that benefits from seeing it with as energetic of a crowd as possible. Is Drop a game-changer? Absolutely not. But considering the inconsistent quality of Blumhouse’s recent horror movies, it’s far better than it could have been. Landon has proven himself to be one of the best studio filmmakers in delivering enjoyable genre-forward movies, and Drop may just be his best movie yet.
Drop premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival and opens in theaters on April 11.

Drop

Despite its silly premise, Drop is the ultimate crowd-pleaser with Meghann Fahy giving a star-making performance.

Release Date

April 11, 2025

Runtime

85 Minutes

Director

Christopher Landon

Writers

Jillian Jacobs, Christopher Roach

Pros & Cons

Meghann Fahy is excellent in the lead role.
Christopher Landon finds ways to keep the phone off-screen.
There’s a level of self-awareness that compliments the suspense.

The plot admittingly gets a bit too silly at times.