A first date gets a crash course in connectivity when Violet (Meghann Fahy) starts getting airdropped threatening messages from someone in the restaurant, in this high-concept thriller about dater protection.

Director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky) drops his usual genre mashup gimmick, wisely avoiding horror and comedy (doesn’t he always?) to deliver a straight down the line, self-contained thriller that plays out like Red Eye at a steak restaurant. They should have called it Rib Eye.

Despite the plot rivalling Snakes on a Plane in terms of the worst ways to try assassinating someone, Landon somehow sticks the landing. It helps that he is solely on directing duties this time, thereby saving the script from the repellent characters and humour of Heart Eyes, and allowing him to focus on keeping up the energetic pace for an economical 95 minutes.

Drop (impossible not to say in a Beastie Boys voice) doesn’t waste a moment, boasts real chemistry between Violet and her date (Brandon Sklenar), and gives her a level of competence that is medium-rare in the genre. It’s not exactly Hitchcock, but Drop is a well-done popcorn flick with surprisingly dramatic steaks.