Drop (2025) review – A date night thriller that misses the mark

Welcome to Knockout Horror. We checked out shark themed survival horror, thriller, movie Dangerous Animals just a few days ago. I figured, “why not follow that up with another thriller?” so today we are reviewing Christopher Landon’s Drop (2025).

A director with a solid resume

I was pretty excited to check this movie out and for one major reason, Christopher Landon. You may recognise Landon’s name as the director of Freaky, Happy Death Day (2017), and as one of the writers on Heart Eyes (2025).

“It’s rather disappointing that Drop is about as middling of a thriller movie as you can possibly get. I guess my expectations were a little high?”

That’s a pretty good resume and I am a big fan of at least two of those movies. With that being said, it’s rather disappointing that Drop is about as middling of a thriller movie as you can possibly get. I guess my expectations were a little high? Let’s add a little caveat to that sentiment, though. Genre fans will probably enjoy this movie. They have a far greater tolerance for logic leaps and rote thriller fare.

The story follows Violent (Meghann Fahy), a widow who heads out to a fancy restaurant for dinner with a man she met on a dating site. Only to find herself in a terrifying situation when she randomly begins receiving threatening messages on her phone. Is it her new date or is there something far more sinister about the events?

It’s pretty standard stuff. Violet doesn’t know who is sending her these messages as they are anonymous. The only clue is that they must be within the vicinity of her table. At first it seems like a minor inconvenience until the messages begin making demands of her and threatening the safety of her family.

It’s a recipe for repetition

The premise is decent enough for a thriller and something that hasn’t really been done before, to my knowledge. The prospect of Violet having to hunt down her tormenter among a restaurant full of potential perpetrators is pretty tantalising. I quite enjoy one-location movies like this, as well. It keeps things tight and fast flowing.

“Violet’s tormenter messages her, she looks around the room in panic… she refuses, they threaten her, she agrees to do it… rinse and repeat.”

Drop quickly begins to feel like it has a bit of a stutter, though. The action lacks any real feeling of finesse and stop, starts, abruptly. Violet’s tormenter messages her, she looks around the room in panic, they ask her to do something, she refuses, they threaten her, she agrees to do it, while she does it she attempts to find some clues, rinse and repeat.

This is basically the formula for the entire movie and it quickly becomes repetitive. Throw in a few absurd plot holes and a date that is willing to tolerate some, frankly, ridiculous scenarios for the chance at a piece of ass and you suddenly have a movie that feels a bit awkward and just a little bit silly.

Sure, there are moments that work fairly well but the location ends up restricting some of the thrills. It’s too busy and too open which really limits how much can be done with the story to create tension and atmosphere. That leads me onto a couple of the film’s other issues.

A predictable villain & a ridiculous ending

Drop inadvertently gives the game away when it comes to the perp pretty early on. This makes the entire movie rather predictable but even if it didn’t slip up in this way, it really wouldn’t matter. We don’t know enough about these characters and there isn’t enough background story building for us to really care.

It’s not going to matter who the person causing all this fuss is because we don’t have any connection to the characters. If it was someone from Violet’s past, we wouldn’t have a clue because we don’t know shit all about her. If it is someone connected to her date, we won’t care because we don’t know jack about him, either. If it is someone random then that is even worse.

Outside of the imminent threat to Violet’s family, there are virtually no stakes at all. The ending is absolutely ridiculous, as well. A fairly lethargic, one location thriller suddenly turns into a chaotic action movie with some, frankly, farcical moments and a completely unbelievable final act. It all feels a bit childish and a bit silly which is fine, this is a thriller, after all. I just expected more.

Mediocre acting and direction

Acting is about what you would expect for a TV movie, or something similar. Nobody stands out and most of the cast feel like they are coasting. Again, it’s perfectly fine for a thriller. Meghann Fahy doesn’t bring much to the lead role and Brandon Sklenar sounds like he popped a bunch of Xanax before hitting the set.

“Meghann Fahy doesn’t bring much to the lead role and Brandon Sklenar sounds like he popped a bunch of Xanax before hitting the set.”

I really enjoyed Jeffery Self as waiter Matt and felt like he added some much needed levity. Well, the silliness of the plot adds levity but you know what I mean. Deliberate levity. I need to mention the script. Writing in horror movies and thrillers is awful, as of late. This movie is no exception! The script ranges from average to laughably bad.

Landon’s direction is pretty damn poor which really disappointed me. His shot set ups felt extremely amateur and the constant switching between camera angles in certain scenes almost gave me whiplash.

There are a few stylistic touches that some might enjoy but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before in run of the mill social media themed horror. Pacing is a bit of a problem, too. The stop-start nature of the events taking place makes the movie feel a bit stilted and awkward.

On the plus side

I have bagged on Drop pretty hard but it’s not all bad. Thriller fans will probably find enough to enjoy. The premise is unique enough to feel fresh and there are a few scenes that are quite enjoyable. There are some laughs, here and there, and the movie can be quite a lot of fun, at times. I feel like romance fans will enjoy the more saccharin parts of the movie quite a lot.

It’s a fairly undemanding watch, which is good. Drop is probably a good option for an easy to digest thriller to throw on with some friends. The whodunnit aspect isn’t all that interesting but it’s not wildly offensive, either. It’s extremely trope heavy and predictable but that’s not a huge problem when it comes to films like this. There is still some excitement to be had and enough going on to keep it fairly interesting.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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