Pop-Culturalist.com

Christopher Landon has long been a master of genre reinvention. From the biting satire of Freaky to the time-loop chaos of the Happy Death Day franchises, his films are known for blending scares with smarts—and always centering characters you care about. With Drop, he returns to the thriller space with a stripped-down, high-stakes story that trades jump scares for psychological tension, while still keeping his signature sense of play.

Set over the course of one unsettling evening, Drop follows Violet (Emmy nominee Meghann Fahy), a widowed mother on her first date in years with the charming and mysterious Henry (It Ends with Us’ Brandon Sklenar). What begins as a promising night quickly turns into a waking nightmare as Violet starts receiving anonymous, increasingly threatening messages on her phone. She’s given a chilling directive: tell no one—or the hooded figure watching her family through her home security cameras will make her pay. What unfolds is a digital-age whodunnit where anyone in the restaurant could be a suspect…or the next victim.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Christopher Landon about crafting the film’s carefully calibrated suspense, collaborating with Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar, and the challenges—and rewards—of telling a story that plays out in real time with nowhere to hide.

PC: You have such an incredible ability to navigate different tonal spaces—one moment we’re on the edge of our seats with adrenaline, the next we’re completely gripped by fear. How did you approach directing those tonal shifts, and were there any scenes where finding that balance was particularly challenging or rewarding?
Christopher: This movie was really different from my previous films because I feel like it’s more of a classic thriller. The humor here is very specifically timed and mostly comes from just one character. It’s always grounded in a certain reality rather than thrown in just to be funny in a random moment. So in that sense, navigating tone felt pretty straightforward.

But when I do blend different tones, I always say the key is having a central character you’re deeply invested in. If you’re connected to that person, you’ll follow them anywhere—whether it’s into something comedic or something horrifying. You’re always with them, and that gives you the freedom to shift tones without losing the audience.

PC: You go into this film expecting a fun, fast-paced thriller, but it also explores some really serious themes, including domestic violence. As a director, how do you create a space where those heavier moments can be approached with care—and how did you and Meghan work together to bring that emotional truth to the screen?
Christopher: That subject matter is really personal for me. I have people close to me who’ve gone through similar experiences, so we wanted to approach it with as much care and honesty as possible. More than anything, we wanted to make sure that we were telling a story rooted in resilience and hope, because that message needs to be out there.

Meghan is one of those actors who always starts from a place of authenticity. She never strikes a false note. Everything her character goes through—she really feels it. There’s a moment in the film that I think is the emotional centerpiece, where she finally lets her guard down in a raw and vulnerable way. Watching her in that scene honestly broke my heart, but it’s also one of the most beautiful parts of the film.

PC: I give a lot of credit to directors like yourself who can make a film set primarily in one location feel anything but confined. From an audience perspective, it feels expansive and incredibly cinematic. How did you approach the visual storytelling to keep the space dynamic and engaging throughout?
Christopher: That was one of the first big challenges I identified when I signed onto the project. It’s a single-location movie for the most part—people sitting at dinner tables and on phones. Not the most visually thrilling setups! So the question became: how do I make that exciting again?

For me, it came back to character. I wanted to put the audience inside Violet’s head. We essentially shot the film in two distinct modes. There’s the version of Violet on a date with Henry, where she’s performing—pretending everything is fine. For those scenes, the camera is very steady, composed, almost formal. Then there’s the version of Violet being tormented, where the camera moves all over the place—it’s dipping, weaving, pushing in unexpectedly.

We also used lighting to help make those shifts feel more subjective and immersive. The goal was to make the audience feel her anxiety and internal chaos. And I think that really helped pick up the pace and add energy to what could’ve felt like a static environment.

PC: You also tap into a sense of nostalgia—it feels like one of those classic thrillers we all grew up on—but at the same time, it has such a modern edge. What films influenced the way you approached this project? How did you find that balance between honoring the genre, bringing something fresh to it, and putting your own creative stamp on the film?
Christopher: There’s a whole filmography I was drawing from—everything from Hitchcock to those great paranoid ’70s thrillers, to the ‘90s “woman in jeopardy” movies like the ones Ashley Judd starred in. Red Eye was a big influence too—Wes Craven really knew how to keep tension high in tight spaces.

So I definitely think of my work as both trying to tell my own story and at the same time tipping my hat to the filmmakers who inspired me. In a way, these movies become love letters to the ones I grew up on. That nostalgia is baked in, but it’s always about finding a way to bring something new to the table.

PC: This project feels like such a family affair, especially behind the scenes, with so many friends collaborating together. How did that kind of environment allow you to take bigger risks as a director or push creative boundaries in ways you might not have otherwise?
Christopher: Everything for me starts with creating an environment that feels safe, welcoming, and open. I was lucky to have incredible producers who were not only supportive but genuinely fun to be around. We formed a real bond.

The cast and crew became a little family—we’d go out to dinner together, have picnics in the park on weekends. That kind of trust and camaraderie is the best foundation for good work. It lets people take creative risks because they feel seen, supported, and like they can bring their full selves to the table.

PC: I was lucky enough to see the film at SXSW, and it reminded me of the pre-pandemic days when we were all experiencing films as a community—the reactions were so visceral. How much does thinking about how the film will be experienced, especially in a communal setting like that, influence the way you approach directing or shooting certain scenes?
Christopher: My cinematographer, Marc Spicer, and I went into this wanting to make something really cinematic and beautiful—and I’m so proud of what we achieved. But what really defines the theatrical experience is exactly what you said: the communal aspect.

Hearing people react together—laughing, gasping, getting rowdy—that’s the magic of going to the movies. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a massive blockbuster or a smaller film like ours. You can still have a huge impact with simple, powerful storytelling.

There’s almost no visual effects in this movie, but people still respond to the tension, the humor, the emotional arcs. I hope people keep showing up for original stories like this—because that’s how we get more of them. That’s how we build the next wave of great cinema.

To keep up with Christopher, follow him on X and Instagram. Drop is in theaters now.