Drop delivers the perfect ending and a hopeful note for survivors of abuse

Major spoilers ahead for Drop.

Blumhouse's latest movie Drop is a stylish date-night thriller featuring a stellar central performance by The White Lotus breakout Meghann Fahy, who plays a widow going on a first date that turns into a night from hell.

A victim of domestic abuse, Violet (Fahy) has struggled to get back into the dating world since her husband's death. But after three months of chatting on the apps, she's finally ready to go on a date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), leaving her adorable son Toby in the care of her sister, Jen (Violett Beane).

The night starts well enough, with Violet waiting for Henry at the fancy fine-dining establishment Palate in downtown Chicago. Then she begins receiving mysterious messages on her phone from an anonymous "Dropper" utilizing Apple's "AirDrop" feature to antagonize Violet.

The messages escalate, eventually revealing the Dropper's real agenda is to make Violet kill Henry, or else her son and sister will suffer the consequences. Let's break down the various twists.

The Dropper's identity revealed

At the beginning of Violet's date, she meets a seemingly sweet and awkward man named Richard (Reed Diamond), who is also at Palate for a date, a blind date, whom he mistakes Violet for at first. Once they iron out the case of mistaken identity, Violet and Richard share a nice moment, chatting about their shared nerves until their respective dates arrive.

Drop provides us with a red herring for the Dropper's identity, trying to make it seem like a douchey patron waiting for his sister is the real culprit after he and Violet collide a few times while crossing the restaurant's floor.

But in the final act, it is revealed that "Richard" has been the primary antagonist all along. Violet unwittingly gets tangled up in a larger conspiracy related to the town's mayor and her date, Henry, a photographer who worked for the mayor and took photographic proof that he was involved in illicit financial activity.

Richard hires a man to break into Violet's house to threaten her sister and her son, using them to force Violet into doing his bidding. We later learn that this man is the electrician who stopped by Violet's house at the beginning of the movie.

With her family's lives at stake, Violet has to steal the SD card from Henry's camera, crush it, and flush it down the toilet. Removing all evidence of the mayor's criminal activity. But her most harrowing assignment is to slip poison into Henry's drink, killing him. Violet tries to get help from the piano man, but this results in his death, with Richard demonstrating the poison's power.

In the end, Violet manages to trick Richard into thinking she poisoned Henry's drink when she only pretended to. Instead, she poisons Richard's dessert while he's distracted, watching Henry take a shot he believes has been spiked.

Drop is an empowering story for victims of abuse

One of Drop's main themes is abuse. Violet was a victim of mental, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of her late husband, Blake. His death is a significant part of Violet's story and mental state.

During a pivotal scene in the movie, Violet tells Henry about what happened with Blake and her guilt for being a bad mother to Toby, blaming herself for not leaving Blake earlier despite her son's life being put in jeopardy. But Henry tells her that it's not her fault. Abusers are very good at gaslighting, manipulating you into believing you're crazy or that you're at fault for something that they did.

This comes into play during the climactic confrontation between Richard and Violet, where Richard tries to convince Violet that it's her fault the pianist died because she disobeyed his commands. But Violet isn't falling for that kind of gaslighting technique anymore. Richard poisoned the pianist, not her.

Drop also forgoes the typical post-credits sequel hook for something far more important. The movie has a definitive ending, and the credits offer a message at the end, providing the domestic violence hotline number. At one point in the film, Violet also visits the real domestic violence website, providing another potential source of assistance to real victims.

Violet gets a happy ending, too, which is nice. She manages to save Toby and Jenn, and the film ends with her visiting her sister and Henry in the hospital, both of them recovering from gunshot wounds. The mayor's criminal past is exposed, and he's arrested. The final scene hints that Henry and Violet will continue their relationship, providing a hopeful and uplifting message for other survivors, namely that they deserve happiness.

Did Violet kill her husband?

Drop opens with an intense scene of violence, showing a man brutally beating Violet and then threatening her with a gun before putting it in her hands and begging her to pull the trigger.

The movie slowly shows us the entire scene, revealing that it was the final showdown between Violet and Blake. Richard believes that Violet killed her husband. It's part of why he chooses her to execute his plan, as he thinks he can make Violet out to be a murderous black widow type.

But the truth is that Blake committed suicide, shooting himself in front of Violet and a traumatized Toby.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about domestic abuse or assault, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-799-7233 or online at TheHotline.