B movies (and sometimes even C movies) can often deliver the most fun and entertaining experiences for audiences. What these films typically lack witty dialogue or swishy action sequences, they make up for in an abundance of campy delights. Drop isn't the best B movie thriller out there, but in a landscape filled with endless remakes and reboots of long-established IP, Christopher Landon's latest offers audiences a romping reprieve.
Meghann Fahy of The White Lotus fame, leads the film as Violet, mother of a young and adorable Toby (Jacob Robinson), who decides she's finally ready to dip a toe into the dating pool following the death of her abusive husband. Her first date is with a handsome photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar) she's been messaging for three months.
Henry's running a few minutes late to get to the fancy downtown Chicago restaurant obnoxiously named Palate, but Violet isn't fussed. She busies herself with her phone, making small talk with the bartender, fending off advances from the piano player, and chatting with a blundering older gentleman on a blind date. As she's waiting, she receives the titular drop — a "DigiDrop," a non-proprietary stand-in for an AirDrop — on her phone: a series of memes that initially appear to be a mistake and soon take a disturbing turn.
When Henry arrives, he explains to Violet that DigiDrops can only be sent from someone 50 feet away, which conveniently is the distance between their window-side table and the hostess stand, setting up the film to be a contained affair. The DigiDrops reveal themselves to be indeed for Violet, holding her hostage to do as the DigiDropper says, lest her son and sister at home be murdered.
Drop traverses whodunnit and action-thriller territories as Landon glances across the restaurant literally, highlighting potential suspects with spotlights. There's a gentle chaos to the film, wherein Violet attempts to juggle maintaining the date (as per the DigiDropper's orders), attempting to figure out who is doing this to her and following their instructions. Drop never goes so far as to follow the common B movie trope of cheesy-for-the-sake-of-cheesy, although the big final sequence could have benefitted greatly from an extra helping from the fromagerie.
Abuse and survival form the heart of Drop, with flashes of Violet's violent past and questions around her husband's death scattered throughout. This heavy material serves a tactical purpose by providing a grounded reason for why Violet responds to this delightfully nonsensical premise the way she does. Amidst the improbability of Drop, Fahy finds the emotional stakes, and Landon embraces her performance without losing any of the tense fun to be had.
Well acted and adequately crafted, Drop feels destined to find its niche audience that will hoot and howl, willing Violet to victory. What more can we ask of our B movies?