"Drop"

From 3/10/2025 SXSW screening and red carpet premiere:

First date.  Fancy restaurant.  What could go wrong?  Beyond your craziest nightmare.  

Violet (Meghann Fahy), a single mom, therapist and domestic abuse survivor, is nervous prior to going on a first date with a photographer she meets online, Henry (Brendan Sklenar).  While Henry looks like a nice guy, this will be the first time in years she puts herself out there and leaves her five-year old son at home for the evening.  With a push from her sister to babysit and a killer outfit to wear, off she goes.  

The swanky restaurant is located on the top floor of a skyscraper, with glassy floor-to-ceiling cylinder views.  Violet makes small talk with an older gentleman waiting for his blind date and an encouraging bartender, trying to calm her nerves.  

When Henry arrives, the two seem to hit it off only very briefly, since Violet starts receiving provocative digi(tal) drops on her cell phone.  Those texts and pictures escalate from annoying to taunting and threatening, culminating in a live camera of a masked and armed man inside her house, holding her son and sister hostage.  And whoever behind these seems to be able to predict what Violet’s going to do, and hear and see every move she makes.  

Imagine sitting in front of a new love interest in person for the first time, trying to hide the panic, threats and horror since you’re told to not tell your date or anyone about what's going on, and unable to drop a  signal or call for help.  Not only that, Violet is now instructed to get something out of Henry’s work bag and destroy it, without him knowing it.  She’s eventually ordered to kill him, or her son dies.    

Violet is making up excuses – from being on her cell frequently, answering airdrops and texting, misplacing her belonging, excusing herself to the ladies’ room, wanting to switch tables, going to the bar to chat with the bartender, trying to get the pianist’s attention from across the room, using makeshift items to get herself out of the increasingly dire situation – while making awkward chats with Henry. The overly chirpy and talkative new server doesn’t help.  

Violet looks around the restaurant, observes the guests and their manners, starts the identity guessing game and even finds ways to talk to a few people.  Everyone is a suspect at this point.  A red herring occurs.  Violet tries every trick she could think of, until the first victim drops dead at the restaurant.  If there’s any doubt that this sick shenanigan is for real, this clinches it.  And if she doesn’t do what he says, more innocent people will be dropping like flies.  

From the onset and the outside, while Henry seems to be more than patient and understanding of Violet’s severely distracted appearance and excuses, seemingly due to first date jitters and an anxious son at home, he finally takes the cue to drop out of the evening and start leaving.  Being drop dead gorgeous could only carry a conversation so far.  Only problem?  Violet needs to keep Henry in his spot so that she could kill him, which of course, she absolutely does not want to do.  But what other choice does she have?  

Fortunately, Violet is able to prevent Henry from leaving by sharing a vulnerably authentic side of her and Henry opens up as well.  By now he could see that Violet is acting strange and senses something is not right.  Unfortunately, this means that Henry remains in the murderer's crosshair.  

With a flushed face, racing pulse and running out of excuses, terror-stricken Violet refuses to give up and is determined to outsmart the merciless murderer figure, while not clueing in and killing Henry, and saving her son and sister at the same time.  Time is running out.  Talk about mission impossible.  When the mysterious killer’s cover is uncovered and the abhorrent end game is blown apart, violent actions come to a deadlier head.  

The movie does a killer job in keeping the whodunnit mystery up and ratcheting up the nerve-racking tension.  The acting is convincing all around.  Fahy carries every frame with suppressed intense emotions and anyone looks like they could potentially be the assailant.  It's satisfying to see her having a mic drop moment when she comes face to face with her tormentor.  

“Drop” is a suspenseful hell hath no fury like a trapped woman whose son is in danger.  You’ll be in for a precarious ride and rooting for the heroine to withstand and win.  

"Drop" will drop into theaters on April 11, 2025.

SXSW red carpet movie premiere:

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2025 SXSW Festival

As a regular and longtime Comic-Con attendee (check out the fabulous blast from years’ past here) and someone who had never been to Texas (now 29th state visited!), I always wanted to visit SXSW, but the timing was never right.  

The stars were aligned this time.  With a complimentary, all-inclusive film & TV press badge, and coincidentally, a free flight voucher from Southwest Airlines, I boarded to Austin and had a grand time!  Austin is a cool city with an outdoorsy-barbeque-music vibe.  The early spring weather ranged from super warm to cool and cold and windy, not much different than San Diego.    

I was only available to be there for several days (less than half the nine days allotted) and a tiny fraction of the massive festival (intersection of film, television, music, business and technology) had to offer, but it satisfied my curiosity.  It’s nice to be able to get away into a new part of the country and also immerse myself in all-things film and television.  If you think Comic-Con is pricey, I got a major sticker shock when I realized my badge was worth at $1,395! 

As always, there were too many things to run concurrently and too little time to experience everything you'd want.  As a member of the press, I was also invited to a variety of VIP parties, live music and interactive business-related events, but I wasn’t able to make it.  That’s how it typically goes – you win some, you lose some.  

Unlike the flat grid of downtown San Diego, Austin’s downtown area is pretty sprawling and with some hilly parts, so rideshare was my go-to method in order to be able to hit events in time, although it still took time due to congested streets.  They did have free shuttles that go from the convention center to major hotels and theaters in the area during the festival, which was a great service for those who weren't rushing.  The lines were managed with people having primary and secondary access based on their respective badge, so it’s clearer than Comic-Con’s one giant lines for everything.   

The exhibition floor was nothing to write home about; it's small and more like a state or summer fair type of exhibits.  The rooms in the convention center had electronic placates (with what appeared to be real-time information about the session and capacity in the room) by the door that I don't see at Comic-Con.  

As far as pop culture celebration goes, it’s not comparable to Comic-Con since SXSW is so much more than film and television and nobody wore any costume.  Although there were a few buildings wrapped (with giant film or television banners) and few pop-up activations here and there.  Plenty of photo opportunities and fun to be had.  

Most prominent activations were Alien, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ Lodge (similar to the one hosted at Comic-Con), The Accountant 2, Love is Blind, Museum of Future House (Dubai) and Whattaburger.  

Some of these events provided tasty treats and drinks (such as slider, lemon sorbet, desert chocolate, soda, lemonade, martini).  Goodies I got include patches, bracelet, charm, T-shirt, hoodie, cowboy hat, regular hat, books and totes.  Among photo shoots, catching clues and solving puzzles, the most fun I had was trying out line dancing! (coming from someone who doesn’t dance at all).  I skipped the paintball gun activity due to time. They were only running these pop-up events for as few as a couple of days to several days, not for the entire duration of the festival, so it was perfect timing I was there during the beginning of the festival.  

What SXSW does best compared to other, smaller film festivals is red carpet premieres.  Yes, Comic-Con (and even WonderCon) has star-studded panels (hello, Hall H and Ballroom 20!), but it’s a different kind of vibe there.  

We’re talking major cast and crew of feature films on the streets.  There’s something exclusive and glamorous about lining up to see the world’s premiere of a movie, with the stars walking out onto the literal red carpet outside of the theater, and standing on stage for Q&A after the movie.  The frenzied atmosphere on the streets with the throngs of cheering fans, press from around the world, and security surrounding the theater was electric.  

SXSW required the very limited, ticketed general audience going inside the theaters to only bring one transparent bag per person in order to move lines through security quickly, although I couldn’t tell if it was enforced. Press was allowed one regular bag and one camera bag, and assigned ‘working press’ tag for each.  

I didn’t look for information or plan to attend any of the red carpet premieres (like Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick for “Another Simple Favor”). My goals was a respite from the routines from work, a change of scenery, and to basically chill and enjoy what might come my way.  

I ended up at the right place and the right time for the premieres of “Holland” (Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Gael Garcia Bernal) and “Drop” (Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar, and co-stars).  I heard from a journalist next to me when and where Ben Affleck would appear (for “The Accountant 2”), but it was so late in the evening and I decided to ditch the effort to get there.  I was planning to get to “The Death of a Unicorn” premiere and had to miss it due to “The Accountant 2” activation running late.  

One-word impressions of the movies I did see: “Another Simple Favor” – wild, “The Accountant 2” – solid, “Drop” – intense, “Holland” – quirky, “It Ends” – creepy.  I did end up seeing “Death of a Unicorn” in a press screening back in San Diego this week – brutal (in a ‘eat the rich’ way).  Some of the screenings.were held in an ornate, historic theater with a stage.  “Another Simple Favor” and “Drop” reviews are forthcoming.  2025 is turning out to be a banner year for films and television!

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