What starts as a promising first date quickly spirals into a digital nightmare in Drop, the new Universal Pictures and Blumhouse thriller from director Christopher Landon.

Meghann Fahy stars as Violet, a widowed mother cautiously stepping back into the dating world. When she meets Henry (Brandon Sklenar) at a chic restaurant, the chemistry is instant — until her phone starts buzzing with anonymous messages. The instructions are clear: Tell no one, do exactly as you’re told, or your family dies. And the final message? Kill your date.

Fahy on inhabiting a survivor

Fahy told Blavity’s Shadow and Act she and Landon had in-depth conversations about portraying Violet as a domestic violence survivor — a layer that shaped the intensity and emotional weight of the role.

“Chris and I spoke a lot about it beforehand,” she said. “And there have been some personal experiences sort of in the group of people that were discussing it, so we definitely wanted to make sure that we were telling that story in a way that felt really truthful and just the right way, which it’s always hard to do that, but I hope that people will think that we did that. It was definitely something that was really important to us that we did think about a lot and talk about a lot.”

Sklenar on performing in a confined space

Sklenar, whose character spends nearly the entire film seated across from Violet, said the setting created a unique creative challenge.

“It was an interesting sort of acting exercise,” he told us. “I was honestly, beyond working with Meghan, and I’ve always loved Chris’s films. I’m a big fan of the horror genre and the thriller genre in general, but taking it from the acting aspect of it and the challenge of trying to keep a tension and reveal plot points with very little physical behavior and movement, just basically in your face and how you’re reacting, and also trying to mislead the audience at the same time with those really subtle looks and how you hold something or say a line or was a really fun exercise and a crafty little challenge that I really liked. I enjoyed it because it is so contained.”

He continued, “It’s just me looking at her face for 70 pages sitting at this table and finding ways to tightrope that in a way that felt interesting and propelled the plot while not being contrived and unmotivated. Everything needs to be motivated, so I really enjoyed that just from a technical aspect.”

Drop also features Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks and Travis Nelson. The film is written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach and directed by Landon. It is produced by Jason Blum for Blumhouse, alongside Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Cameron Fuller for Platinum Dunes. Sam Lerner serves as executive producer.

Watch the full interview with Sklenar, Fahy and Landon above.

Brandon Sklenar

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