‘Drop’ Uses New Tech For Old-School Thrills: At The Movies With Kasey
Usually, when I come home from the theater, I want to tell my husband all about the movie. After seeing Drop, however, I would only say that it was great and I couldn’t wait for him to see it so we could talk about it. This new thriller is too fun for me to spoil the plot.
In Drop, Violet (Meghann Fahy) heads to a very fancy restaurant for her first date since being widowed, leaving her young son, Toby (Jacob Robinson), in the care of her sister, Jen (Violett Beane). Before her date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar), even arrives, a stranger, someone within 50 feet of her, starts sending her air-dropped messages. She tries to brush them off, but when she finally accepts one of the messages, she gets roped into a terrible situation. An assassin is at her home, ready to kill her sister and son unless she kills Henry. What can Violet do? And who is sending her the messages—Cara (Gabrielle Ryan), the observant bartender? Phil (Ed Weeks), the sleazy pianist? Or one of the other diners?
The plot of Drop depends on cellphones and surveillance technology, but it also feels like an old-school thriller or a locked room mystery. Although Violet’s buzzing cellphone is a nemesis in the story, ratcheting up the tension with each notification, texts and videos are displayed on-screen in seamless styles that keep the phone’s role from getting boring. The suspense is further ratcheted up by how bad the murder plot makes the first date itself. Sure, I was invested in the mystery, but the growing awkwardness between Violet and Henry made me even more anxious. That the date mattered so much must be a testament to the chemistry between Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar because, although Fahy shows a lot of range in the role, Henry is an underdeveloped character.
As much as I thoroughly enjoyed Drop, there were a few plot holes. They were the kind of things that had me thinking backward while driving home, trying to figure out if there were any good explanations.
Drop opens with Violet surviving domestic violence, and it uses her guilt about her toddler son witnessing those scenes as a backdrop for the choices she makes. The screenplay tries to walk a thin line between Violet blaming herself and carrying guilt alongside post-traumatic stress, without actually blaming her for not leaving her husband sooner. I am not convinced that the writing pulls off this emotional highwire act, but Fahy’s earnest performance makes the pitfalls somewhat like the plotholes. I did not think much about the approach to domestic abuse in the moment because I was so caught up in the drama, but one more revision probably could have better drawn the distinction between what Violet thinks and what the audience is meant to think.
Drop was written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach and directed by Christopher Landon. It runs 95 minutes and is rated PG-13.
One of Them Days, a buddy comedy about two roommates—Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA)—on a wild hunt to come up with rent money before they get evicted, features a plethora of hijinks, fist fights, and fast food. It lacks character development or plot coherence.
The friendship between Dreux and Alyssa gives the story a fun, raucous energy that explains how ambitious Dreux continually gets sidetracked by Alyssa. Amid all the chaos, Dreux’s interview for a promotion, inconveniently timed for the same day as their looming eviction, provides the story with a grounded counterbalance to schemes to sell sneakers and fleeing from ambulances or hyperbolically evil gangsters. As infectious as the silliness between Keke Palmer and SZA is, the movie is sometimes too chaotic, and it is easy to lose track of all the side characters. I was somewhat relieved when the beats started to coalesce around a final, clear plot. The ending delivered a resolution for the characters that was satisfying, if somewhat rushed.
One of Them Days benefits a great deal from the appeal and comedic timing of its leads. Keke Palmer and SZA boost a screenplay that has too many twists for its own good, keeping the audience rooting for the hapless roommates to get their act together.
One of Them Days was written by Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont. It runs 97 minutes and is rated R.
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