What actually happens
A first date at the top of the tower
Violet Gates is a therapist in Chicago whose abusive husband, Blake, has died, and she is starting to date again. She leaves her young son Toby at home with her younger sister, Jen, and goes to Palate, a restaurant at the top of a tower, to meet Henry Campbell, a photographer she has been talking to on a dating app. While she waits she meets the bartender Cara, a pianist named Phil, and two other diners: Connor, and Richard, who is out on a blind date. Then Violet begins to receive "Digi-Drops", messages from an unknown sender over a texting system that only works at close range. They start as memes and grow more threatening. Henry arrives, a waiter named Matt seats them, and the drops keep coming. Henry helps her work out who is sending them, since the sender has to be seated in their section. The messages escalate until the sender tells Violet to check her home security cameras.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
A masked man in her living room
On the camera feed, Violet sees a masked gunman inside her house. The sender tells her not to alert anyone or leave the restaurant, or Toby will be killed. This is the scene people dread most, and it happens early in the evening. Violet works out that the restaurant is bugged and that someone is watching her through its security cameras. The sender orders her to take a camera out of Henry's bag and destroy its SD card. She does, and she finds that Henry, an employee of the city mayor, has photographs that prove the mayor was embezzling. Henry gets suspicious and starts to leave, but Violet kisses him and persuades him to stay, and she talks about the trauma of losing Blake. Then the sender tells her to pick up a vial of poison in the bathroom and use it on Henry.
Two rounds of shots with something extra in them
Violet suspects Connor and confronts him, but she can't prove anything. She will not poison Henry, so she slips Phil a note explaining the hostage situation. Phil collapses and dies of poison as he tries to leave the building. The sender mocks her failed plan and demands that she kill Henry now. Violet orders a round of shots and spikes Henry's, then panics as Henry raises his glass, and she spills the drink in the scramble to stop him. While Henry is off cleaning up, Cara asks Violet if she is all right and mentions that Richard's date went badly as well and that he has kept an eye on Violet's table all evening. Violet takes Richard a fresh round of shots, and he reveals that he is the one tormenting her.
The ending, explained
Richard is on the mayor's payroll. He plans to assassinate Henry, who means to testify against the mayor, and to pin the murder on Violet. Henry drinks the shot in front of them, but Violet tells Richard she poisoned the dessert he has been eating. Furious, Richard raises a gun at her, and Henry pushes her aside and is shot. During a struggle, Richard stabs Cara, then tells his henchman to kill Toby and Jen. Violet throws a hockey puck through the window, which blows Richard outside, and he falls to his death. Henry catches Violet before she goes out the window after him. She drives Henry's car home while Jen is shot protecting Toby. At the house the henchman turns out to be the meter reader. Violet stabs him, but he overpowers her, and Toby picks up the gun he dropped, and Violet shoots him dead. Some time afterward, Violet goes to the hospital to see Henry and Jen, and Henry's photos have led to the mayor's arrest.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Drop scary?
Barely. Drop is a 3 out of 10: a tense thriller built on threatening messages, with some shootings, a stabbing and no lasting dread.
How does Drop end?
Violet poisons Richard, the man sending the messages, and he falls to his death. She gets home in time to save her son Toby, and Henry and Jen recover in the hospital.
Does the dog die in Drop?
No, no dog dies in Drop, and no other animal dies either.
Is there a post-credits scene in Drop?
No. Drop has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is sending the messages in Drop?
Richard, a diner on a blind date, who works for the mayor. In Drop he wants Henry killed before Henry can testify, and he plans to frame Violet for it.
