Just caught the new thriller “Drop”, the premise is intriguing: Henry and Violet meet for their first date. The captors take control of Violet’s babysitting sister and young son and threaten to kill them unless Violet kills her date Henry. The situation becomes intensely dramatic when Violet attempts to shield her family while figuring out which restaurant patron is the attacker and tries to keep her date with Henry normal.
Initially, “Drop” delivers. The plot is engaging, and the thrills are genuinely effective. I found myself invested in Violet’s predicament and the escalating tension. The acting across the board was solid, no complaints. For the first two-thirds of the film, I was on board, eager to see how it would unfold.
However, the film unfortunately stumbles in its technical execution, specifically in its camera work and editing. There were consistent and distracting choices in cinematography that took me out of the story at times. A recurring example was the low-angle shots during conversations with the waiter, forcing the audience into a repetitive upward view. This stylistic choice felt unnecessary and added no value to the story. Similarly, the lighting often felt forced, attempting a Hitchcockian atmosphere but ultimately falling flat.
The editing proved equally jarring. During dialogue sequences, the back-and-forth panning between characters felt abrupt and almost ping-pong-like. The lack of smooth transitions annoyed me and pulled me out of the flow.
As the film progressed into its final act, the plot itself began to lose some of its initial believability and felt rushed, becoming a little “wonky,” as I’d put it. While the initial setup was strong, the resolution felt disconnected with the first 2/3 of the film.
I can’t deny that I still found “Drop” to be an overall good film. The initial premise and the performances kept me invested enough to see it through.
My final rating lands at around 3 out of 5 stars, solely due to the frustrating technical execution. It’s not perfect, but it offers a reasonably entertaining time at the cinema. Go check it out.
