Brandon Sklenar Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

A woman receives anonymous drops on her phone instructing her to kill her date in Drop. Violent (Meghann Fahy) is a domestic abuse survivor who is about to go on her first date in years, leaving her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) in the case of sister Jen (Violett Beane). Violet arrives at the fine dining restaurant, Palate, to meet her date, Henry (Brandon Sklenar). Soon after she and Henry are seated at their table, Violet begins receiving anonymous digiDrops on her phone. Beginning as vaguely threatening memes, the drops become sinister when Violet is shown a video of a masked intruder in her home. The anonymous individual, who must be within 50 feet of Violet's table, instructs Violet to kill Henry before the end of their date, or else Toby and Jen will be killed. Drop Synopsis Drop is a thriller directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2U, Freaky) and is a co-production between Blumhouse Pictures and Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes. The film stars Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) as Violet, who is still traumatized from the abuse she received from her abusive husband Blake (Michael Shea) and now works from home as a counsellor. Violet is about to leave the house for the first time in years to meet her new online date, Henry, played by Brandon Sklenar (Vice, 1923). Violet's date has barely started when she begins to receive threatening digiDrops on her phone, instructing her to kill Henry or else her son Toby and sister Jen will be killed by a home invader. Due to the 50-foot range of the drops, the one threatening Violet is someone else in the restaurant. The suspects include the very friendly bartender Cara (Gabrielle Ryan), the overeager server Matt (Jeffery Self), lonely middle-aged man Richard (Reed Diamond) and the piano player Phil (Ed Weeks), among others. Violet has to find a way to escape the restaurant and save the lives of her family. My Thoughts on Drop Christopher Landon is one of the up-and-coming horror filmmakers today and was once attached to the upcoming Scream 7 before that film's behind-the-scenes turmoil. Given the timing of his late-2023 exit from Scream 7, it can be presumed that Drop is the project he fell back on, with the film being a more traditional thriller from writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach (Truth or Dare). Ironically, Drop ends up being quite reminiscent of another Wes Craven-helmed film. While there are specific plot elements that differ, Drop is more or less a remake of 2005's Red Eye for the social media age. Both films feature a female protagonist who is instructed to help orchestrate someone's death while family members at home are under threat by an assassin. It is unlikely that the similarities between Drop and Red Eye are intentional and more a sign of how formulaic a thriller Drop ends up being. The similarities between Red Eye and Drop end in terms of execution. While the 2005 film benefited greatly from Wes Craven's direction and then up-and-coming stars Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, Drop ends up being a whodunit with the suspects made of the cliched archetypes, including the flamboyantly gay server and the somewhat out-of-touch middle-aged man going on a blind date. The plot of Drop also features some very obvious red herrings to misdirect the audience. When the final reveal of the villain happens in the third act of Drop, it is simultaneously out of left field and blatantly obvious. The similarities with Red Eye continue in the third act, as the action progresses away from the restaurant location to a save-the-family chase sequence. Admittedly, there are a few clever and crowd-pleasing moments in the climax. Ultimately, I would give Drop a minor recommendation. The film has its moments, but it is way more of a generic thriller than Christopher Landon's previous directorial efforts. If only that Scream 7 job worked out.

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