“You lost the moment you walked into this restaurant”
Do you know why they serve peanuts on airplanes? Even with all of the allergies out there, it remains an airline staple, and for one very specific reason. Chewing gum is a big deal for the airlines. The little time given to clean a plane between flights makes those of you inclined to put your chewing gum under your seat a bit of a problem. So they serve you peanuts, because peanut oil causes the “sticky” element of gum to completely break down. Try it. Your gum falls apart if you add peanut oil to the equation, and that’s exactly what director Christopher Landon has done with his latest Blumhouse thriller, Drop. Someone added a bit of peanut oil to the production, and it kind of never really sticks together. And that’s too bad. Because there’s a kind of clever and original element here that could have been a lot more interesting. Let’s try to separate the gum from the peanut, shall we?
Violet, played by Meghann Fahy, is a single mother living in the big city. She’s had a pretty rough ride in her life that we discover in small pieces along the way. She’s single because of tragic circumstances that are revealed slowly. She’s finally decided to go out on her first date in forever. Her sister Jen, played by Violett Beane, agrees to watch over Toby (Robinson) while she meets a man she met on a dating app for a rather luxurious date at one of those skyscraper-top restaurants. You know, the ones with the killer view. While she waits for her date, we’re introduced to the rest of the players who will have some part in their evening, as the film will now take place completely in this small restaurant. All of them are prospective suspects when she receives messages in a social media platform called Drop. They are teasing at first, but eventually become sinister as she is being asked to do things that continue to get darker throughout the night. The bait is that there is someone in her house, and he will kill her son and sister if she doesn’t obey every command. The suspect has complete access to her every action, so she can’t seem to get help. Someone is pushing her toward murder, but who?
That’s where the film plays an interesting game. Is it her charming date, Henry, who is a photographer for the mayor and played by Brandon Sklenar? Or is it the flamboyant waiter, Matt, who is on his first night at the gig, played by Jeffery Self? I swear most of his performance feels improvised. There’s something that just doesn’t come together here, and that might be by intent. Richard is an awkward man who is on a blind date and maybe takes more interest in Violet than his own frustrated date. He’s played by Reed Diamond, who is the standout performer in the entire film. I usually think of him as a television actor from shows like Homicide: Life On The Street, but he has aged well and steals every scene he is a part of, and the truth is, there aren’t enough of them.
For a while there is a pretty good thriller going on here, as Violet tries not to let on what she’s dealing with as the cellphone mate puts her through her paces. The problem is that Landon doesn’t know when he’s played out his hand. The film goes from thrilling and creepy to jumping the shark about the midpoint of the film. He plays the string too long, and while the final 20 minutes are wonderful, the plot kind of fell apart before he got there. Landon is winking at us as he pulls off this rather clever ploy, but he doesn’t appear to know when it’s time to mix things up. He has a remarkable cast. It’s a truly brilliant setting, and the idea works … but only for so long. There are elements of Hitchcock and Twilight Zone to be found here in their best traditions. There are some truly effective camera angles here, and the lighting is perfect to set our table. It was pulling me in, but Landon just couldn’t resist that bag of peanuts, and it all comes tumbling down just before he springs the trap. He got me interested again, but I’d already kind of given up the ghost. Take out 20 minutes in the middle and the film goes from good to great. That’s OK, though. “I could use a reset.”
