DROP

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens as Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) is being attacked by her abusive husband Blake (Michael Shea). As she is beaten and bloodied, Blake holds a gun at her but then puts it in her hands so that she can shoot him. Violet screams before putting her finger on the trigger.

Years later, Blake is dead and Violet has moved to Chicago with her five-year-old son Toby (Jacob Robinson). As a result of her own experiences, she has taken a job helping other victims of abuse. She has also been talking on a dating app with Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar), a photographer who works for the mayor’s office. They have made plans to have their first date and finally meet in person.

Violet’s younger sister Jen (Violett Beane) arrives at the house to babysit Toby while Violet goes on her date. After helping her sister pick something nice to wear, Jen assures Violet that Henry will not be like Blake.

Violet arrives at the restaurant, Palate, which is on a high floor. Henry texts her that he will be running late, so she goes to order a drink at the bar. She accidentally bumps into a guy named Connor (Travis Nelson) before going to order wine at the bar, served to her by the friendly bartender Cara (Gabrielle Ryan). Violet is then approached by a man named Richard (Reed Diamond), who mistakes her for his blind date for the evening, Diane (Fiona Browne). When Diane does show up, she appears disappointed to see Richard, which Violet catches. Violet is also hit on by Phil (Ed Weeks), the restaurant’s piano player, but Cara tells him Violet is waiting for a date. Violet also starts to get memes sent to her phone from an app, digiDROP.

Henry shows up, and the two go to their table. He gives Violet a hockey puck as a gift for Henry, which she thinks is a sweet gesture. Things start off well enough before their waiter, Matt (Jeffery Self), shows up. He does a little too much by trying to show off his improv skills before getting Violet and Henry drinks. Violet continues to get drops on her phone, ordering her to answer. Henry says it’s probably someone in the restaurant pranking her, until the person sending the drops (the “Dropper”) uses Violet’s name. Although intending to ignore the messages, Violet is forced to answer when she sees through her security cameras that there is a masked man (Ben Pelletier) in her house with a loaded gun. The Dropper informs Violet that her phone is cloned, so he can see whatever move she is trying to quietly make, like calling 911, and if she tries to alert Henry or anyone else, the Masked Man will kill Toby.

Violet goes to the bathroom to try and get help from some prom girls, but the Dropper can hear Violet too. She finds that the bathroom and the lamp at her table have been bugged. The Dropper instructs Violet to take the SD card out of Henry’s camera. She pretends to lose her watch to give Henry an excuse to get up, allowing her to open his bag and go through the camera. Violet finds incriminating pictures against the mayor and takes the SD card before Henry returns. When she goes back to the bathroom, the Dropper tells her to destroy the card and then to look in the paper towel dispenser. Inside is a small vial of poison, and the Dropper orders Violet to put it in Henry’s drink to kill him. When Violet vocally objects to doing so, the Dropper suggests that she has already killed someone.

Violet tries to keep an eye out at the restaurant for anybody that could be the Dropper. She runs into Connor again and questions him, but he says he is waiting to meet with his sister. Violet also sees Diane leaving Richard in a huff after she calls him a jerk and a loser. Violet goes back to the table with Henry. When she tries to switch tables away from the window where they were seated, the Dropper threatens Toby again unless they stay.

While Matt is taking Violet and Henry’s orders, she notices Phil playing “Baby Shark” on the piano after she jokingly suggested it. She writes “2 hostages” and her address on a $20 bill for Matt to pass to Phil as a tip. He sees the message and goes to the bar, but after going back, Phil starts to faint after his drink was spiked. He gets back up but barely makes it down to the lobby before he dies. The Dropper tells Violet that was a bad move, and she watches on the security cameras as the Masked Man attacks and knocks Violet out before locking Henry in his room.

Violet keeps pretending that she is having issues with Jen and Toby, leading Henry to think she is not invested in the date, so he starts to leave. Since the Dropper is ordering Violet to keep Henry there, she kisses him to convince him to stay. She then suggests that they do shots, so she goes to the bar to order tequila. Cara senses something is not right with Violet, but she tries to keep herself calm. When she gets back to the table, Henry reveals he saw Violet’s watch drop out of her purse. Violet apologizes for lying and tries to make up an excuse.

Henry goes to the bar to get limes, giving Violet a moment to slip the poison into Henry’s shot glass. Henry gets suspicious when Cara says that Violet didn’t want limes. Henry returns to the table, and Violet asks what made him want to message her even after knowing she was a widowed single mother. Henry expresses what he likes about Violet, and they exchange stories about abusive partners. Henry is about to drink his shot, but Violet spills wine on his shirt to stop him. As he gets up, the Dropper texts Violet that it wasn’t a smart move. She sees Connor again and thinks he’s the Dropper, but his sister suddenly shows up for real.

Cara goes to Violet and asks if she needs help to get away from Henry. She tells Cara that he is not the problem but asks about Connor’s sister. Cara says she comes in all the time, but she usually sits at a different table…the table where RICHARD has been sitting all night. She tells Violet that she understands why Diane left, because he was staring at Violet all night. Violet then goes to confront Richard, confirming that he was indeed the Dropper. He works for people alongside the mayor and is involved in shady business, and he also poisoned Phil. Henry is considered a “rat” for gathering evidence against them, and Violet was used as a pawn to kill him since she could be blamed as a “widowed killer who snapped” since security cameras would have seen her slip the poison into the drink. A quick flashback also reveals that Violet didn’t kill Blake. He took the gun back and nearly shot Toby, but upon hearing police sirens, he committed suicide. Henry goes to the table, and Violet is forced to give him the tequila shot, which he takes.

After Henry walks away, Richard feels confident in his victory and starts to eat his dessert. Violet says that Blake ate the same dessert (panna cotta) during an “apology dinner”. She began to see the pattern in abusers like Blake, so she reveals to Richard that she never poisoned Henry’s shot, but she instead slipped it into the dessert while Richard watched Henry drink. Realizing he’s been drugged, Richard flies into a rage and draws a gun on Violet. He shoots but Henry pushes Violet out of the way and takes the shot. He starts to shoot, sending the patrons running in a panic. Cara tries to defend Violet but gets stabbed in the back (she is implied to survive, though). Violet then grabs the hockey puck Henry gave her while Richard orders the Masked Man to kill Jen and Toby. Violet throws the puck at the window behind Richard, which he already shot. It breaks, and the decompression blows Richard out the window to his death. Violet nearly falls out as well, but Henry saves her. They call for medics and police while Henry lets Violet take his car keys to drive home.

Violet races through traffic to get home while Jen regains consciousness and goes to help Toby. The Masked Man attacks them, but Jen stabs him in the leg and tries to hide herself and Toby. The man breaks through and shoots Violet in the arm while Toby evades capture. Violet makes it home and fights the Masked Man. Before he can finish her, Toby uses his toy car to deliver the man’s gun to Violet. She shoots him dead before running to Toby and Jen.

Richard’s murder plot is exposed, which in turn causes for the mayor and many of his associates to get arrested. Violet goes to visit Henry in the hospital while he recovers and brings him food. Violet then gets more drops on her phone, but it’s just Jen down the hall pranking her (she also stops by to meet Henry). Violet asks if Henry would consider a “boring” second date, and Henry says he would love nothing more than that.

Violet Gates is a widowed single mother to Toby, who has not dated since being married to Toby's abusive father. She is set to go on a date with Henry Campbell, whom she has been speaking to on a dating app for months, while Violet's younger sister Jen babysits Toby. While the date is going well, Violet starts to get threatening messages ("drops") from a mysterious villain. They instruct Violet to kill Henry and not tell anybody about it, or they will have a masked man in the house kill Toby and Jen.

Violet tries to make a few discreet attempts to call for help, like alerting the pianist Phil with a message on a $20 bill, but the Dropper catches wind of this and poisons Phil. Violet is forced to take a vial of poison and slip it into Henry's shot glass, but she stops him from drinking it after seeing he really is a good guy.

Violet soon discovers that the Dropper is a man named Richard, whom she met earlier in the night as a seemingly kind man who was on a blind date. He is associated with the mayor of Chicago, who is involved in shady business that Henry has photographic evidence of, and Richard was using Violet as a pawn to kill Henry since she allegedly killed Blake (he actually committed suicide). Although Henry drinks from the shot glass, Violet reveals to Richard that she never put the poison in his drink, but instead in the dessert that Richard is eating. He pulls out a gun and starts shooting. Henry is hit in the side, but Violet breaks a window that Richard shot, causing a decompression that sends Richard flying out the window to his death, but not before calling his man to kill Toby and Jen. Henry gives Violet his car so she can race home and fight the man, killing him with help from Toby.

The mayor is exposed after the murder plot is revealed, and Violet goes to visit Henry (and Jen) in the hospital. He agrees to go on a second "boring" date with her.