Upamanyu Biswas
‘Drop’ tells the story of a widowed mother named Violet whose life is upended when her romantic date with a photographer, Henry, turns into a horrible nightmare. After arriving at the posh upscale restaurant for the evening, Violet soon realizes something is amiss when she receives a contingent of airdrops on her phone from an anonymous figure. They threaten to kill Violet’s young son, Toby, and her sister, Jen, unless the protagonist carries out the tasks designated to her immediately. As a result, Violet gets caught in a cat-and-mouse game of survival and deception as she tries her best to keep her plight a secret while enjoying her time with Henry, her blackmailer’s target. Under the direction of Christopher Landon, the environmental thriller movie delves into a high-stakes narrative driven by tension and intrigue.
Drop is Vaguely Inspired By a Real-Life Incident
Written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, ‘Drop’ traverses the high jinks of an exciting one-location drama, partially rooted in the experiences of actress Olivia Sui. Like Violet, the protagonist in the Christopher Landon directorial, Sui had a similar encounter with “strange AirDrops” on her phone from an unknown source while she was out having dinner with her boyfriend and friend. The incident took place while Olivia was in Italy, a trip that stood out because of the novel mystery of the random AirDrops on her phone. As per the actress, the messages contained numerous Shrek memes, with one following after another. She and her friends started looking around the restaurant to pinpoint the sender’s identity. However, they were unable to find anyone who might be behind the messages.
“For the entire dinner, I just kept getting AirDrops,” Sui explained on her social media. “It was weird. It was kind of fun. It was kind of spooky.” Despite continuing their extensive search, the group was unable to figure out the source of the messages. Subsequently, the creepy encounter cast an indelible mark on Sui, her boyfriend, Sam Lerner, and her friend, Cameron Fuller. While Sui was unconvinced about the whole concept, Lerner and Fuller, who serve as producers on the movie, saw the potential of turning this bizarre real-life experience into a full-fledged thriller project. As a result, ‘Drop’ was born. The script taps into the same primal fears of being manipulated by an anonymous blackmailer as present in its true story. However, the stakes are much higher and exaggerated in the case of the film.
Drop Utilizes its Taut Premise to Dive Into Psychological Trauma
While ‘Drop’ largely operates as a gripping thriller fueled by the situation engulfing the main character, the movie also tries to add more thematic layers to its overarching narrative, such as domestic violence. As a survivor of abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, Violet is a resilient individual who has constantly found herself battling demons both inside and outside herself. Director Christopher Landon worked closely with scriptwriters Jacobs and Roach to understand the multiple conflicts raging inside Violet’s head and how they determine her actions when the blackmailer applies pressure on her. It creates an intriguing setup where the story is dictated by character choices and on-the-spot improvisation, making every moment unpredictable and fresh.
Despite admitting that he stays away from watching other movies while in the process of making one, Landon acknowledged the parallels between ‘Drop’ and the films directed by one of his favorite directors, Wes Craven, specifically ‘Red Eye.’ In the 2005 thriller movie, a woman named Lisa befriends a terrorist on a flight who is planning to kill the US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. However, in order to achieve his goals, he holds Lisa hostage, blackmailing her into carrying out the assassination mission for him. A similar context and situation applies to Landon’s directorial, showcasing the similarities between the two projects. It helped the director draw out the emotions, suspense, and thrilling journey more precisely, taking cues from another film while bringing his original take on the subject matter.
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