I always look forward to a new film from director Christopher Landon, even though his last effort, 2023’s We Have a Ghost, was largely a misfire. In Drop, Meghann Fahy stars as Violet, a widowed mother. She is on a first date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar) when she receives a series of anonymous messages to her phone. The caller instructs her to tell nobody, and follow increasingly malicious instructions, or her younger sister, Jen (Violett Beane), and her son, Toby (Jacob Robinson) will be killed.
Landon really returns to form here. The set up is very neat, the one setting for almost the entire run time works really well and I cannot remember the last time I found a film so tense. Sklenar is particularly good as seeming to be a nice guy but also dropping subtle hints that there may be something more to him. Fahy does a good job also as the frantic mother looking for a way out of her situation.
My only criticism is that the identity of the person sending the messages was a little obvious to me, because of two clues in the cast list. I will say no more as I do not want to give any spoilers. But this a terrifically gripping and ingenious movie.
Rating: 8 out of 10