21 Things We Learned from Christopher Landon’s ‘Drop Commentary

Looking for another reason to love your 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD collection? Special features like commentaries featuring filmmakers, critics, and other film fans. After living for more than a decade elsewhere on the internet, Commentary Commentary has been reborn here at Dread Central – and as is fitting for its return from the dead, it’s now all about the horror.

Christopher Landon has been active on the feature horror scene since the mid-2000s, but while writing on the Paranormal Activity sequels made his name, it was 2017’s Happy Death Day that made him a pretty big deal. The critically acclaimed box-office hit was followed by a (superior) sequel, a body-swapping slasher called Freaky, and a writing credit on this year’s holiday-themed slasher, Heart Eyes.

It’s his latest directorial effort that brings us here today, though, as Drop arrives on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. It’s less of a straight horror film and more of a thriller, but it’s still tailor-made for genre fans, especially fans of suspense tales, movies with protagonists in impossible situations, and Wes Craven’s Red Eye.

Now, keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…

Drop (2025)

Commentator: Christopher Landon (co-writer/director)

1. This is the first of Landon’s films where he didn’t manipulate the Universal logo in some way, “but I still didn’t let them play the Universal theme song.”

2. Drop is Landon’s fifth collaboration with composer Bear McCreary. “Bear is a total musical genius. He’s like a magical wizard of music.”

3. He wanted the film to be something of a love letter to Alfred Hitchcock and 90s thrillers, and part of that was giving the film a proper opening credits sequence. The objects in the sequence, many of them actual props from the film, were blown up with small explosive charges.

4. The opening flashback is meant to take place in Violet’s (Meghann Fahy) old loft apartment, but they were so tight on time that a suitable place couldn’t be found, so the production design team reconfigured the lobby at the production studio.

5. The film was shot in Dublin, Ireland. It’s a beautiful location, but it required plenty of work and visual trickery to convince as an American city, including replacing signage, reversing the flow of car traffic, and more.

6. Violet’s young son is played by Jacob Robinson, who’s apparently a popular Irish TikTok star.

7. The restaurant was a 12,000 square foot set elevated 10-15 feet off the ground so equipment could be moved around easily. It’s a fantastic build, and Landon had gold touches added throughout “because I wanted this beautiful restaurant to become a gilded cage for Violet, a space she’s literally trapped in.” He adds that one of the heartbreaking things about finishing the film is that the entire set just went straight into the trash.

8. The phone messages and “DigiDROP”—they couldn’t use AirDrop, apparently—are all practically done and actually on the phones as opposed to visual effects. “I thought it was important for Meghann to have the stuff and react to it.”

9. The budget didn’t allow for a giant blue screen outside the window to create the nighttime skyline, so they used a giant Translite—basically a big drop cloth pre-printed with the image. Visual effects are used to add moving elements while actual lights are controlled from behind. “I think it works pretty well,” he says, but I’d argue it works very well and looks better than too many blue screen shots.

10. The hockey puck is fake as they “couldn’t get anything cleared.”

11. One of the things that drew Landon to the script (by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach) was how it weaponized seemingly benign things like our cell phones. “That was the hook for me.”

12. The memes on Violet’s phone are mostly all pre-existing ones, and they were included in the script—the actual images—which helped Landon picture the beats and move quickly to clear the rights once production got underway.

13. Violet’s jumpsuit was designed with multiple intentions in mind. Landon wanted it to be visually striking, but it also needed to be something that would allow for action beats and stunts. He says it’s very comfortable, something he knows firsthand, as they made one for him that he wore for the final shot on the film. “There are photos to prove, I hope they never get out there.”

14. The shot at 40:13—an overhead of Violet in the bathroom as lights go out around her and the camera pulls back and up—is meant to capture the idea that “she’s been dropped into an abyss” after being told to kill Henry (Brandon Sklenar).

15. The beat where Violet’s purse falls to the floor and her watch spills out required numerous takes and filament wires to make happen.

16. He was worried he’d have to pinch the kid in Violet’s flashback to her son as a toddler in order to make him cry, but happily they got the shot by having the kid’s mom walk out of frame, which of course made the kid cry.

17. Reed Diamond’s audition gave Landon chills, which immediately landed him the role of Richard.

18. The script originally had Violet play fast and loose with the poison shot in order to trick Richard, but Landon wanted one extra chess move and settled on her poisoning his dessert.

19. Violet’s house is a real house in Dublin, and he wonders—as we watch a killer trying to shoot a little boy—if the owners knew what they were signing up for when they agreed to let them film there. “I actually lost a location because of that once,” he says. “The family ended up reading the script the week before we were supposed to shoot there, and they were like, nope!”

20. Landon doesn’t typically go into a film having already decided if it’ll be an R or PG-13 feature, but they knew here that the movie would be the latter. The MPAA balked at the scene where a woman was shot as it originally featured a healthy blood splatter, so they “had to pull some stuff back.” He adds that “it’s always a bit of a dance.”

21. The hospital-set ending was among the first things shot, and Landon found himself unsure about the tone as it felt too light. It led to a reshoot that shifted things too far in the other direction, so they ultimately stitched the scene together with footage from both shoots. One downside to this is that Violet’s hair continuity is off throughout. “So far, no one has really noticed it…”

Quotes Without Context

“I’m going to be your tour guide for the next hour and a half, or your tormentor, depending on how you feel about this movie.”

“When you’re trying to find a location that looks like the suburbs of Chicago, most people would not think of Ireland.”

“Uh oh, here they come, the memes!”

“These two are so beautiful, it makes you want to throw up.”

“It’s amazing what you can do on an iPhone – and how it ends up in the final movie.”

“He’s just a smarmy douchebag.”

“I love movie pandemonium when extras are screaming and running.”

Drop is easily among Landon’s better films, and he gives it a fun, informative commentary track exploring its journey to the screen. His appreciation for cast and crew alike is high, and it’s clear he’s a knowledgeable filmmaker who loves movies. The new 4K UHD and Blu-ray also include three featurettes offering fans a look at what went into the production, including more details on the restaurant set, the cast, and more.

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