Drop

DROP is one of those suspense thrillers that's so illogical and goofy that it inspires a fight or flight response in its audience. If you stick with it, damned if it doesn't pull off an exciting finale.

Let's be clear though, the ending is just as implausible as the previous eighty minutes, but two factors kept me engaged.

First was Bear McCreary's excellent, BIG, Jerry Goldsmith-like music score. McCreary (The Walking Dead) delivers his best ever film score that calls back to Goldsmith's work in "Basic Instinct" and John Barry's"Jagged Edge". It's terrific.

Second is a hugely engaging cast of actors that make the most of their characters.

Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) stars as Violet, an abuse counselor whose about to go on her first date in many years. We see flashbacks to her violent marriage. Its tragic ending still resonates.

Violet leaves her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) with her sister Jen (a terrific Violet Beane from "The Flash) for the evening, with a thousand protective instructions. She hasn't ever left Toby alone and she's clearly terrified to do so.

She arrives at a stunning restaurant called Palate, located on top of a Chicago high rise to meet her date.

The film takes place mostly in this restaurant space and kudos to the production designer Susie Cullen (Abigail) for creating a modern, beautiful restaurant I'd love to make a reservation in today.

Between her design and Director Christopher Landon's establishing shots, we gain a very clear mental map of the restaurant, which is vital to the story telling.

Her date Henry shows up, played by Brandon Sklenar with the same strong likability he had in "It Ends With Us". This guys defines "storybook perfect date"and my wife would strongly agree.

Just before Henry sits down, Violet starts receiving strange air drops.

These escalate into a very deadly game of cat and mouse that I won't dive into here.

The best part of the film is guessing what the hell is going on.

Each of the texts are plastered across the screen in 3D style text that dominates. The visuals are clever, especially a scene where Violet checks her home security cameras and each screen displays on the walls around her. A toilet stall has never been this visually intriguing. Points scored for creativity.

I suspected at least three different characters during dinner and never saw the real story behind the dastardly deeds coming.

But be warned, this upscale dinner demands the same complete surrender to illogical behavior as Taron Egerton's recent, hugely enjoyable thriller, "Carry On". In that film, he left his post as a TSA agent so many times to beat up bad guys that I started laughing. The dude would have been fired in real life before he could land a punch.

Same here. Violet leaves Henry so many times at the table that he would have been gone between the appetizers and the entree.

But Fahy is good at making it somehow plausible and you find yourself thinking about what you would do in her situation.

Gabrielle Ryan is excellent as Cara, a bartender at the huge circular bar in the middle of the restaurant, keeping an eye on Violet. She has real presence in a small role.

Jeffrey Self is hilarious as Matt, a new waiter working his first night with WAY too much energy for the space. His delivery is flawless and delivers some huge laughs.

We've all had this waiter at least once in our lives.

Reed Diamond (Clear and Present Danger, Memphis Belle) delivers as another patron on a first date that's not going so well.

With lesser actors, lesser music or looser direction, this thing would fall apart before the first dinner seating. It won't ever rank at the top of Blumhouse thrillers and sometimes plays more like a TV movie than a big screen thriller, but it has it's simple charms.

The last 15 minutes POPS with crazy action as McCreary's score soars alongside the mayhem.

The final scene made me laugh out loud. "Too soon?" has never been delivered in finer form.

Looking for a silly 90-minute thriller to keep you guessing? WARNING: You'll likely roll your eyes as much as you scratch your head.

DROP gets a C+.

I'd like a table for two at Palate tonight please. Let's avoid the window tables.....