Drop
A widowed mother's first date in years takes a terrifying turn when she's bombarded with anonymous threatening messages on her phone during their upscale dinner, leaving her questioning if her charming date is behind the harassment. A widowed mother on her first date in years, who arrives at an upscale restaurant where she is relieved that her date, Henry is more charming and handsome than she expected. But their chemistry begins to curdle as Violet begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone. Chicago therapist Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) has begun to start dating again following the death of her abusive husband Blake. Viole's husband killed himself after a particularly violent episode, but Violet was blamed for his death. After finishing work, she is startled by a meter reading man knocking on her window to which she tells him round the back is open. Later on, leaving her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) at home in the care of her younger sister Jen (Violett Beane), Violet arrives at Palate, a top-of-the-tower restaurant, for a date with photographer Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar), whom she has been talking to via a dating app. Violet was looking forward to meeting Henry as this was her first date after the death of Blake. As Violet waits for Henry to arrive at the restaurant's bar, she meets bartender Cara (Gabrielle Ryan), pianist Phil (Ed Weeks), fellow diner Richard (Reed Diamond), who is on a blind date, and fellow diner Connor (Travis Nelson). Violet soon begins to receive "Digi-Drops" – a short-range texting system – from an unknown user, sending memes to Violet that gradually become more threatening. Violet tries to message Jen but gets no response to her multiple messages. Violet's house was only a few minutes away from the restaurant. Henry arrives, and the two are seated and served by new waiter Matt (Jeffery Self). Henry was carrying his camera and states that he could not leave in the car for the fear of it being stolen. Henry gifts a hockey puck to Violet, for Toby. Violet receives more drops, and Henry attempts to help her find out who it is, knowing it has to be someone seated in their section of the restaurant. Despite Violet's attempts to ignore the drops, they continue to escalate, eventually culminating in the user asking Violet to check her home security cameras. On the cameras, Violet witnesses a masked gunman inside her home. Violet is messaged by her tormentor, demanding she not alert anyone or try to leave, otherwise Toby will be killed. Violet realizes the restaurant is bugged and she is being watched via security cameras. Violet goes into the ladies' room to find help but finds that she is being tracked even there. Violet is not able to say anything to Henry, but he could sense something was wrong. Henry gets Matt to change their table, but Violet gets another drop asking her not to change the table. The user instructs Violet to retrieve a camera from Henry's bag and destroy its SD card. Violet obeys by sending Henry to look for her watch (which she had put into her purse) and discovers that Henry, who works for the city mayor, has photographed evidence of embezzlement. The user asks Violet to smash the SD card and to flush it down the toilet, which she does. The user then instructs Violet to retrieve a vial of poison from the bathroom (the paper towel dispenser) and kill Henry. The user knew that Violet had killed her own husband previously. Violet goes to the front of the restaurant and uses the receptionist's phone to call 911 but is not able to connect. She connects to a helpline on a browser but is pinged by the user not to engage with them. Suspicious of Connor, Violet confronts him but is unable to prove he did anything. Henry grows suspicious of Violet's behavior and prepares to leave, but Violet kisses Henry and encourages him to stay, opening up about her trauma from Blake's death. Unwilling to kill Henry, Violet slips a note to Phil informing him of the hostage situation, but Phil collapses shortly afterward and dies from poison while trying to exit the building. The user insults Violet over her failed plan and demands she kill Henry immediately. Violet watches the security cameras at home to see the masked man hitting the back of Jen's head with a gun and locking Toby in his room. Violet wants to know why Henry went with her on this date. Henry says that he hated dating apps as everyone was trying to be someone, they were not, but Violet was being herself, genuine and warm. He sympathizes with Violet regarding her violent past. Violet orders shots and spikes Henry's, but panics as he prepares to drink his and makes a mess trying to stop him. When Henry leaves to clean up, Cara checks on Violet and mentions that Richard has had a similar bad date and has been watching Violet's table all night. Violet visits Richard with new shots and he reveals himself as her tormentor. Richard is on the mayor's payroll and plans to assassinate Henry, who intends to testify against the mayor, while pinning the murder on Violet. Henry arrives and drinks the fresh shot in front of them, but as Richard gloats to Violet, she reveals that she actually poisoned the dessert Richard is eating. Realizing that he will die soon and his assassination plan has been ruined, Richard becomes enraged and attempts to shoot Violet, but Henry pushes her out of the way and is shot instead. A scuffle ensues, during which one of Richard's wild shots pierces a window and Cara is stabbed by Richard, who, now exposed, sends an alert to his henchman to kill Toby and Jen out of spite against Violet. Violet throws a hockey puck at the window, shattering it and blowing Richard outside, where he falls to his death. Violet nearly falls as well, but Henry saves her. Taking Henry's car, Violet races home while Jen is shot trying to protect Toby. Violet arrives and stabs the henchman who turns out to be the meter reader man, but he overpowers her. Toby then retrieves his dropped gun, and Violet shoots the henchman dead. Sometime later, Violet visits Henry and Jen in the hospital, while it is revealed that Henry's photos of the mayor have resulted in his arrest and prosecution. Jen sends a drop to prank Violet and Henry before the new couple plans a second date.
Read more →
