Studio:   Blumhouse/Universal
Director: Christopher Landon
Writer:   Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
Producer: Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller, Jason Blum
Stars:    Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Reed Diamond, Violett Beane, Jeffery Self, Jacob Robinson, Gabrielle Ryan, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson

Review Score:

Summary:

Trapped in a restaurant on a first date, a single mother is manipulated through her phone by a mystery man threatening to kill her son.

Synopsis:

Haunted by the traumatic memory of her abusive ex-husband Blake killing himself in an act that saw her accused of murder, therapist Violet Gates prepares for a first date with Henry Campbell, a photographer who works for Chicago’s mayor. A single mother, Violet leaves her five-year-old son Toby with her sister Jen while she goes to an enclosed rooftop restaurant, Palate, to meet Henry.

With Henry running late, Violet meets several bar patrons and employees while waiting for her date to arrive. Violet meets sympathetic bartender Cara, drunken pianist Phil, and Richard, a man claiming to be there for a blind date with a woman named Diane. Shortly before Henry enters, Violet’s phone begins receiving vaguely threatening memes.

Violet and Henry are seated at a table by the window where their server, an aspiring comedic actor named Matt, introduces himself. As the alarming messages continue, Violet shows her phone to Henry, who suggests the apparent threat is probably a harmless prank.

The unidentified man sending the messages directs Violet to remotely check her home security cameras. Violet sees a masked man armed with a silenced handgun inside her home. The man sending the messages warns that Toby will be killed if Violet leaves the restaurant, allows Henry to leave, contacts the police, or tells anyone what is happening.

Henry and Violet try to switch tables until Violet is warned to return to her previous seat. The hostess oddly mentions that Henry specifically requested the table by the window when he made his reservation, which Henry denies doing.

The unknown man instructs Violet to retrieve the SD card from the camera Henry uses in his work with the mayor. Violet concocts a plot that allows her to get the card, which she is subsequently directed to crush and flush down a restroom toilet.

The man next orders Violet to retrieve a small vial of poison from the bathroom’s towel dispenser. Violet is told she must kill Henry by getting him to drink the liquid.

Violet unsuccessfully attempts to call 911 from the hostess stand. She also confronts Connor, a patron she repeatedly bumped into, with her suspicion that he might be the person manipulating her. Due to Violet’s constant distractions, Henry moves to leave, but Violet convinces him to stay with a passionate kiss. Meanwhile, Diane angrily storms out of her date with Richard, who remains behind to continue dining alone.

Violet secretly writes a request for help on a $20 bill that gets passed to the piano player, Phil. Phil reads the message, but someone slips him poison that causes Phil to collapse. The $20 reappears on Violet’s plate. As punishment for involving someone else, Violet sees the masked intruder assault Jen and lock Toby in his bedroom over her home security system.

Violet goes to the bar to order tequila shots for poisoning Henry. When she returns to the table, Violet and Henry connect during an emotional conversation about surviving abusive relationships. After Henry steps away, Violet seemingly spikes his shot as instructed. However, when he comes back, Violet spills wine on Henry’s clothes to stop him from taking the shot.

While Henry goes to the bathroom to clean up, the bartender, Cara, points out to Violet that Richard has been staring at her the entire night. Violet takes the tequila shots to Richard’s table to confront him. Richard confirms he is the man who has been texting Violet. Richard explains that Henry is an FBI informant set to reveal incriminating information about the mayor’s illicit activities. Working as the mayor’s fixer, Richard orchestrated the entire evening to frame Violet as Henry’s murderer, and he killed Phil to stop the pianist from alerting authorities on Violet’s behalf.

Henry comes to Richard’s table. Violet has Henry drink his tequila shot in front of Richard. Henry then returns to his table while Violet stays with Richard.

Believing Henry will soon die, Richard gleefully begins eating his dessert. Violet reveals she only pretended to drug Henry’s drink, and she actually put the poison in Richard’s dessert while he was watching Henry swig his shot.

Richard pulls out a gun and shoots at Violet. Henry lunges in front of Violet to take the bullet. The restaurant erupts in panic. Cara attempts to intervene and gets stabbed by Richard.

Before he can fire again, Violet uses a hockey puck Henry gave her as a gift for Toby to break the window behind Richard. The air pressure pulls Richard outside and drops him to his death. Violet gets sucked out too, but Henry pulls her to safety.

While Henry and Cara nurse their wounds, Violet races back home to rescue her sister and son from the intruder. The masked man shoots Jen during a chase around the house. Violet finally arrives. Using his remote-control truck, Toby helps Violet recover a dropped handgun she uses to kill the attacker, who had previously posed as a meter reader in order to case the house.

Jen and Henry recover in the same hospital. Violet visits Henry and the two of them amusedly make plans for a second date.

Review:

Impossibly preposterous situations like the one that single mother Violet finds herself in during “Drop” only ever occur in popcorn thrillers, never in real life. Yet when those movies are made with smart scripts and sharp craftwork, willful suspension of utter disbelief permits all sorts of fictional ridiculousness for the benefit of escapist entertainment.

Haunted by the memory of her abusive ex-husband threatening her at gunpoint, Violet faces a less dramatic fright with the prospect of her first date in forever. Leaving her five-year-old son Toby at home with her sister Jen, Violet sets out for Chicago’s poshest rooftop restaurant and settles in for an evening certain to be unforgettable, though not for any reason she could possibly anticipate.

Seated at a table with Henry, a photographer who’s more handsome in person than in his online profile, Violet’s phone begins receiving strange memes that quickly escalate into shocking threats. Told to remotely check her home security system, Violet sees a masked intruder inside her house. The instructions that follow couldn’t be clearer. The unknown person sending these texts has a surprising task for Violet to complete, and if at any point she tries to leave the restaurant, contact the police, or tell anyone, especially Henry, what is really going on, then her precious little boy dies.

Who might the mystery man be that’s directing Violet into danger? Could it be Richard, an awkward older gentleman who’s also at the restaurant on a different first date? Maybe it’s Phil, the bar’s drunken pianist who’s had one too many martinis? What about seemingly sympathetic bartender Cara, or the couple’s animated server Matt, an aspiring improv comic currently playing a hat on the head of Allison Janney? There’s also Connor, a young man Violet repeatedly bumps into. And what about Henry? Could Violet’s date somehow be the devious manipulator now pulling her strings?

The poster tagline says, “Everyone’s a suspect,” but that’s simply not even close to true. Blumhouse’s budget-conscious habit of hiring attractive actors who aren’t breakout stars means the primary suspect can only be the one person in the cast most people have previously heard of. Younger viewers luckily won’t have the same issue since they’re less likely to recognize his face, but those of us who’ve been watching this actor for decades will see his name in opening credits or appear in his first scene and immediately realize, “Oh, well that’s definitely the guy.”

I’ve called it “The Tony Danza Principle” in the past, though I probably need to update that term with a less-dated celebrity. It’s basically when, for example, a police procedural stunt casts a special guest star for that week’s episode, then mixes them in with a bunch of nobodies like it’s a surprise which one of those actors will turn out to be playing the juicy role of the mystery villain. Will it be Pedro Pascal or one of the interchangeable extras? Gee, I wonder.

You also know from the outset that the mastermind isn’t going to be Violet’s date Henry. Violet’s recovery arc requires her to earn a deserved W in romance for once, making it all the more odd that the movie puts Henry in the shallow pond of red herrings to begin with. There’s a mix-up moment where the restaurant’s hostess claims Henry specifically requested a certain table when he made his reservation, something Henry denies doing. It’s such a limp attempt at a distraction because I’m not sure if “Drop” means to hint at some unknown operator in play or if we’re supposed to see Henry as suspicious merely because maybe he wanted to sit near the window.

Although the blinding lights surrounding the bad guy’s true identity wash all suspense out of the hamstrung mystery, director Christopher Landon seems to sense the script’s empty surprises are unsatisfying, so he turns it over to the performers to carry momentum instead of leaving it up to the plot. That’s a risky move for a wannabe nailbiter where Hitchcockian hooks usually fuel intensity, but it’s the wise turn to take since the two main personalities are pleasing to watch suffer through the bizarre conditions of their date and to see survive the persistent pressures that follow.

Meghann Fahy’s role as Violet would have been an easy fumble in less assured hands. She has to continually, and conspicuously, interrupt dinner with off-the-cuff excuses to run to the ladies’ room, return to the bar, and create commotion, yet there’s an air of poise to Fahy’s presence that makes Violet’s behavior believable, all while you can still see her cracking composure ready to burst at any moment. Brandon Sklenar matches Fahy’s easygoing ability to be endearing, making Henry a compassionate good guy worth cheering on, both to make things work with Violet as well as to foil the perpetrator’s plan.

Christopher Landon has too much experience with crowd-pleasing formulas to direct anything less than an enjoyable effort, even though “Drop’s” totally telegraphed reveal kills any chance of being a gripping whodunit for armchair detectives to solve along with Violet. Fortunately for the film, “Drop” picks up some of that slack with appealing performances, highly energetic pacing, and a no-nonsense presentation. “Drop” delivers another needlessly elaborate evil plot whose ultimate goal could more realistically be achieved with far less complicated planning, but the counterargument contends that’s just par for the course when playing on this well-worn grass of a trope-laden thriller whose main intention is to manufacture a guilty pleasure getaway for 90 quick minutes.

Review Score: 60