DROP (2025): REVIEW

by Seth Metoyer, MoreHorrorMovies.com - DROP released to Digital platforms on April 29, and will be released on 4K UHD / Blu-ray on June 10. Christopher Landon didn’t write DROP, and that might be the problem.

I’ve been rooting for Landon ever since Happy Death Day flipped the slasher formula on its head and Freaky gave us a blood-soaked Freaky Friday remix that somehow worked. He knows how to play with genre, find heart inside horror, and direct actors through tonal gymnastics. But DROP, his latest film, feels like a ghost of what could’ve been. A competent ghost. But a ghost nonetheless.

It wants to be a Rear Window by way of Knives Out, but who doesn’t want that? Stylish tension, clever clues, maybe some unexpected stabs (both literal and figurative). Instead, what we get is a sleek thriller with the soul of a mid-tier TV pilot. You can see the intent, especially in the cinematography and the way scenes are framed like puzzle pieces, but that vision never connects to anything emotionally grounded.

The screenplay, by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach (Truth or Dare, Fantasy Island), reads like it was written by people who’ve watched a lot of human interaction on reality TV but never actually had any. Characters deliver lines that sound like AI approximations of “trauma response,” and react to red-flag situations like they’ve taken acting notes from cardboard cutouts. One moment stands out: Lex, played by Meghann Fahy, is visibly distressed, teary-eyed, and staring off into existential horror on her date—and the guy, Rob, played by Brandon Sklenar, just smiles warmly, nods supportively, and continues with dinner like he’s reading from a therapist’s script written by a robot. Mr. Perfect, activated. And yet somehow not remotely believable.

By the time he’s taking bullets for her, we’re expected to believe this romance has weight. That they’ve bonded over... trauma and fast food? The final scene, in which the pair share greasy fries and wistful smiles about wanting a “normal date,” made me audibly groan. There’s only so much manufactured sweetness I can take after a third act stitched together with clichés.

That said, Landon’s direction is still the film’s saving grace. He knows how to frame tight spaces to make them feel claustrophobic without turning the whole film into a visual slog. There’s a crispness to the editing, a confidence in the visual storytelling that makes DROP watchable, even when the script is gasping for air. If this had been his writing, I imagine we’d have gotten some of the sly humor or humanity his other work balances so well.

As for the performances, Brandon Sklenar does fine work, even if Rob’s behavior pushes the boundaries of believability. Meghann Fahy has the look of a rising star, but her performance often comes off wooden, emotionally one-dimensional, even when the script demands nuance. Maybe it was a directional choice to play Lex as emotionally numb, but it doesn’t translate into anything compelling onscreen. Just awkward silence and dead-eyed glances that never quite build into a character.

And then there’s the villain, played by Dennis Boutsikaris, an actor I highly regard. His performance walks a strange line between sinister and cartoonish. One moment he’s giving off psychotic creep vibes, the next he’s grinning like a bafoon you’d expect to trip over his own evil monologue. He does have a slappable face when he smiles, though. That’s probably the best compliment I can give here.

With big names like Michael Bay and Brad Fuller attached as producers, you’d think someone might’ve stepped in to tighten this thing up. There are flashes of a better film buried beneath the one we got. Something with wit, paranoia, and stakes. But DROP doesn’t rise to any of those ambitions. Instead, it plays like a sanitized thriller for people who don’t actually like thrillers but want something that feels vaguely smart.

I wanted to like it more. I always do with Blumhouse releases. They’re great at conjuring concepts. But I wish they’d invest just as much in logic, dialogue, and letting characters behave like actual human beings. Until then, we’ll keep getting films like DROP: glossy, promising, and ultimately... a little empty inside.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 “normal dates.”