At the outset of the immensely entertaining new thriller “Drop” — director Christopher Landon’s latest work for the hit-or-miss Blumhouse studio — Violet (Meghann Fahy), a therapist specializing in treating survivors of domestic abuse, is having a difficult time breaking through to her client. The woman across from her is tormented by the memories of what she endured and, more acutely, how low and empty the abuse made her life feel. The fact that Violet is trying to conduct a productive therapy session over Zoom doesn’t exactly help, either. Technology’s not doing anything but getting in her way, so Violet quickly comes up with an idea that uses the tools at her disposal. She asks her client to turn on “self-view” and turn off Violet’s window so that the only person her patient can see on the screen is herself. “Look at the woman in front of you,” Violet instructs her. “Try to tell her that she’s worthless.”
To Violet’s surprise, this method works. At least for this session, her tactic has quelled her patient’s self-contempt. It’s a silent affirmation that Violet — a fellow survivor of domestic abuse — is doing good work and a reminder to heed her own words. She is not a burden walking the Earth. She has a limitless supply of power and agency; all she needs to do is call on it.
