Drop - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Drop



Movie:
4K Video:
4K Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
My initial pull towards Drop was the trailer, but upon looking up the IMDB info on the film a few months back got super excited when I realized that this was directed by the same man who did both Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U, both of which were two of my favorite pulp horror films of the last decade. I immediately plugged both fingers in my ears and went “la la la la la la” to keep myself as spoiler-free as possible for the upcoming home video release. Unfortunately, I might have saved myself some frustration and anguish if I had actually paid attention to reviews coming out and seen the mixed reception Drop got.

Drop literally “drops” us into the thick of things by introducing us to the main location of the film within 5 minutes of the opening scrawl rolling by. Widowed Violet (Meghann Fahy) is out on her first date in years, having matched up with handsome Henry (Brandon Sklenar) on one of the dating apps. All seems fine and dandy until she and Henry meet up for their swanky date at a local restaurant, and someone anomalously begins photo dropping some foreboding memes her way. As the night continues, the memes give way to actual threats, culminating in the person on the other end informing Violet that someone is at her home and using her child as leverage so that he can recruit the young widow to kill her date.

Spoilers in the plot aside, Drop starts out pretty cleverly, with the concept of photo drops being used to harass someone. But after about the 10-minute mark, things begin getting silly fast. I mean, I don’t mind the whole “who is doing this to me?” storyline, but the entire premise and execution of the story is where I start to lose my grasp on the believability of it all. Things go from tense, to silly, to downright “OK, there is no way any single person can orchestrate each of these events down to perfection, now it’s just getting ridiculous”, all within the first 40 minutes of the film. By the time we get to the 40-minute “twist reveal”, the audience has already lost any sense of realism and are just rolling their eyes at this point.

While Happy Death Day (and its sequel) were both silly and fun little endeavors that used the same suspension of disbelief to enjoy the premises, neither film ever went this far down the suspension of disbelief rabbit hole. Things go just right, with every SINGLE move that Violet and Henry make being manipulated and overseen as if the person giving the instructions was omnipotent. And this really is the entire crux of my disappointment in the film. I don’t mind the formulaic story, nor the action, nor the mid-film twist. The film just stretches disbelief to the max, and I couldn’t actually get into what was happening, even though I wanted to.

On the plus side, both Meghann and Brandon do well in their roles, and Reed Diamond always does well with that sort of awkward but abrasive personality he utilizes in a lot of his films. I love a lot of director Michael Landon’s works in the past, so naturally I was expecting something much better than what we got from him today as well. Unfortunately, he swung hard and missed the mark by just a little bit. Enough to Drop “dropped” (pun intended) from being a pulpy thriller, to being almost hilariously obvious down to the very final second of the film (when Toby drove out his little remote controlled car with the pistol on it near the end I had to pause the movie so I could laugh a bit).




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for strong violent content, suicide, some strong language, and sexual references.




4K Video: Video:

Comparing the 4K UHD disc against the Blu-ray I reviewed last week garners some great results, as the 2160p upgrade is head and shoulders taller than the already amazing looking 1080p disc. Right off the bat I noticed just how bright the Blu-ray is, and how tamed said brightness is on the 4K disc. It’s not that the 4K is dimmed dramatically to where it’s dark and shadowing, rather the brightness is not as ridiculously high as it was on the Blu-ray. Faces looks more natural, with more amber and pink tones to them instead of being more pale. The interior of the restaurant is till dim and lit with tons of amber and brass lighting elements, but fine details are even easier to see in the shadows and colors pop against the dark background. Violet’s bright red party dress shimmers with details, and the HDR application adds a thick richness to the primary shades and black levels. Her lipstick has a more defined look vs. a bright red blob, and things like the brass fixtures in the restaurant really look shinier and more realistic. Overall, this is a very substantial upgrade over the 1080p disc.









Audio:

Universal is still one of the good guys, so this Dolby Atmos track found on the disc will be the exact same thing as the one found on the 4K UHD disc, so fans can grab either variant and be met with the exact same superb audio mix. Said mix is awesome without being one of those tracks that call attention to themselves all the time. As unassuming as that sounds, the mix is quite active nearly all the time with ambient sounds of a busy restaurant. Voices and dialogue are crisp and clean up at the front of the room, but the surrounds are filled with all sorts of subtle background noises pretty much the entire film. Little things like forks and knives clattering on plates are brought to the front of your attention, while things like chairs scraping against the floor, or the whispered voices of patrons near the bar, faintly waft in from the back of the room. Overheads get used just as actively, though they are still of the delicate and unobtrusive variety. Mostly with the tense score and a few moments near the end, where someone is coming down from an upstairs room. Bass is intense and rich, adding more than a few low-end whomps with the above-mentioned score, as well as the final confrontation as gunfire blasts off all around them.









Extras:

• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER LANDON
• A RECIPE FOR THRILLS: MAKING DROP - Join the cast and crew of DROP as they sort through the ingredients of this date gone wrong.
• A PALATE FOR PANIC- Take a seat and devour the details that went into creating Palate, a film set that doubles as a fully operational restaurant.
• KILLER CHEMISTRY - Join Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar as they discuss their characters' first date and how they managed to keep Violet and Henry grounded throughout the escalation of events.

Final Score:

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Drop is not a bad movie in reality. Landon does amazing work with the mood and visual atmosphere, it’s just that he went so far down the path of complete and total omnipotent manipulation by the villain that the audience got left behind. The 4K UHD disc sparkles even more than the excellent Blu-ray, with the same stunning Atmos track. Extras aren’t half bad either. In the modern day, having ANY extras at all is a win, so having a full-on commentary and several behind-the-scenes clips made for a pleasant surprise. But at the end of the day, Drop is a bit too pulpy and silly for its own good, leaving me to recommend it as a rental, similar to Trap.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Petyton Jackson
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish DD+ 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Studio: Universal Studios
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 96 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 10th, 2025

Recommendation: Decent Rental