Single mother and widow Violet (Meghann Fahy) is about to step out on her first date in years with  a handsome photographer named Henry (Brandon Sklenar). But on arrival at the fine dining restaurant she starts to receive air drop messages on her phone threatening her that her son will be killed if she does not kill her date. 

Drop is a high concept thriller focusing on technology. Air drops are close proximity message services meaning that the villain must be in the restaurant. Whilst both Violet’s home and the restaurant are filled with security cameras meaning that no move goes unnoticed. Director Christopher Landon, veteran of similar high concept horror/thrillers such as Happy Death Day and Freaky does his best to ratchet in on the tension that anyone in the restaurant could be our villain, but ultimately the idea is too silly to hold its own weight, crashing down in the final moments. 

The film’s main issue is something that the recent Trap suffered from. How many times and for how long can you make your main character not engage in the event they are at? In Trap its protagonist was constantly making excuses to not watch a pop concert. Something that when watched seemed ridiculous, but is far more plausible than the amount of times Violet is not actively engaging in her date at an expensive restaurant. Henry’s patience with Violet would require an Herculean effort, but it is something you have to buy into to get the most from the film. Because as with Trap, when the film changes venue for its final moments it loses all intrigue as it wraps entirely predictably. 

Where it succeeds is in its leads’ charms and its director’s use of colour desaturation to focus on possible villains. Is it the chatty server on his first shift? The friendly bar woman who is invested in Violet’s first date? Or the guy who never takes his eyes off of his phone at the restaurant alone?

It is also worth mentioning the visually interesting way it displays the text messages on screen and possibly the worst child actor I have witnessed for a long time as other moments that can add and remove from your viewing pleasure. 

Drop is an interesting idea that is just an average movie. At ninety-five minutes long it’s worth a watch if this concept appeals to you.