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Christopher Landon's latest thriller Drop was released in theaters on April 11, 2025. The thriller, set in one downtown Chicago restaurant high up in the air, follows a date gone wrong as all the guests have turned into adversaries in a vying survival game.
The lead character in Drop is Meghann Fahy's Violet, who finds her evening taking an increasingly disturbing turn as an ominous app, DigiDrop, tries to control her life. It sends threats against Violet's family, telling her that she has to follow its instructions if she wants her family safe.
As the night progresses, the story is filled with anticipation, creeping with the inescapability of the claustrophobic setting, heightened by urgency. Brandon Sklenar plays Henry in the film, and throughout the film, his motivations seem unclear, which only adds complexity to the plot.
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Viewers praised the film for its pacing and while they appreciated both Brandon and Meghann's performances, they were captivated by Fahy's portrayal of a mother caught in a difficult situation.
With its focus on character-driven tension and a straightforward plot, Drop may be considered a master's class in maintaining suspense without grandiose theatrics. For fans who love thrillers that combine elements of psychological depth and confinement, this is a list of films and shows like Drop that bring out the same emotions.
Speed, Blink Twice, & 5 other shows like Drop
1) Carry-On
Carry-On is a contained thriller that unfolds almost entirely within an airport, keeping the tension tight and the stakes high. Taron Egerton plays Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent stuck in a professional and personal slump until one unusually quiet Christmas morning turns explosive.
He’s blackmailed by a mysterious man—played against type by Jason Bateman—to allow a suspicious package through security. The man is threatening Ethan's girlfriend's life but there is an issue, the package could kill a lot more people. What follows is a slow burn laced with dread, as Kopek tries to outsmart the situation without getting anyone hurt.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the film plays to the strengths of its tight setting and psychological pressure. It offers high stakes without ever leaving the ground. Much like Drop, Carry-On relies more on suspense than spectacle and uses its confined space to keep things sharp.
Carry-on is available for streaming on Netflix.
2) Speed
Speed is the original single-location thriller that knew how to keep things moving—literally. Set almost entirely on a city bus rigged to explode if it drops below 50 mph, the film sticks to a clean, high-stakes premise and lets the tension unfold one roadblock at a time.
Keanu Reeves steps into the action-hero role while Sandra Bullock’s quick wit and grounded charm keep the chaos from feeling too heavy. Together, their easy chemistry builds the kind of low-key romantic tension that Drop plays with too. The film does have some time-stamped details like payphones and oversized ’90s tech. However, the pacing and problem-solving hold up.
It’s a story built on momentum, both physical and emotional, and rarely takes a foot off the gas. Speed doesn’t try to do too much, and that’s exactly why it still works.
Speed is available for streaming on Hulu, Max, and Sling TV.
3) Panic Room
Panic Room might not have the neon glow or Gen Z lingo of Drop, but it’s cut from the same cloth. A single location, a high-stakes standoff & a desperate attempt to outsmart the other side.
Directed by David Fincher, the film traps Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart inside a fortified safe room after burglars (Jared Leto and Forest Whitaker) break into their newly purchased NYC brownstone.
What should’ve been a quick smash-and-grab turns into a tense chess match, especially after it’s revealed that the very thing the thieves want is locked inside the panic room, with the mother-daughter duo. The power plays get tighter, and the tension gets thicker.
It’s stripped down but loaded with dread, running on tight dialogue and claustrophobic shots. For fans of Drop’s pressure-cooker pacing and “wrong place, wrong time” stakes, Panic Room hits similar nerves.
The film is streaming on MGM+ and Prime Video.
4) Missing
Missing doesn’t need a deep dive into Searching to make sense. It stands on its own—and banks on a clever setup. The entire story unfolds across screens, turning everyday tech into the film’s main stage. It kicks off when June (Storm Reid) realizes her mom, played by Nia Long, hasn’t come home from vacation.
Instead of waiting around, June starts sleuthing—scraping emails, tapping into security footage, and scrolling through a web of sketchy online profiles. What starts as a daughter-on-a-mission story spirals into something way messier.
Secrets unravel fast. Much like Drop, this one leans hard into the digital realm, making texts, video calls, and location pings feel cinematic. Reid, pulling the entire weight of the film, makes it all feel grounded.
Missing is available for streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and Sling TV.
5) Blink Twice
Blink Twice marks Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut—and while it’s early days, the first outing’s got teeth. The film echoes Drop in how it plays with tension rooted in gender dynamics. The setting is a sleek, remote island that slowly unravels into something way darker.
Channing Tatum plays a billionaire tech bro who invites a group of women to his private paradise, but it quickly becomes clear that something’s off. What starts as glitzy and fun shifts into a slow-burn mystery, with control, power, and manipulation creeping in through every frame.
The horror doesn’t come with jump scares—it’s more about what’s lurking under the surface. That unease builds, with each new reveal pushing things further off the rails. The cast is loaded with actors like Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Geena Davis, and Kyle MacLachlan.
Blink Twice is available for streaming on MGM+, Amazon Prime Video, and Roku.
6) Heretic
Heretic threads the same needle as Drop, but swaps social tension for spiritual unease. Two Mormon missionaries—played by Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East—knock on the wrong door.
Hugh Grant’s Mr. Reed greets them with charm, but that façade slips fast. What starts as polite talk about faith morphs into a mental chess match, then nosedives into something far more sinister. Reed claims to be a prophet and the girls are trapped.
Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the duo behind A Quiet Place), the film unfolds almost entirely through conversation, but the stakes never dip. The tension hums just under the surface, pushed along by sharp writing and Grant’s unnerving performance.
Less about physical escape, more about psychological survival. A single room. A twisted belief system. A pair of girls forced to figure out just how far “faith” really goes.
Heretic is available for streaming on Max.
7) Trap
Trap flips the Drop formula on its head. Instead of an everyday person caught in a killer’s web, this time, the killer is the one boxed in. Josh Hartnett stars as Cooper, a seemingly regular dad escorting his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a pop concert.
Except Cooper isn’t just a dad—he’s “The Butcher,” a serial killer hiding in plain sight. The cops know The Butcher is in the building, just not who he is. As the night unfolds, the tension doesn’t come from the action but from the anticipation of who will slip up first.
M. Night Shyamalan leans into psychological suspense rather than twist overload here, grounding the story in a high-concept trap of its own. It’s a single-setting standoff but from the reverse angle: the predator becomes the prey.
Trap is available for streaming on Netflix.
From hostage standoffs to twisted mind games, these thrillers echo Drop’s tight pacing and high-stakes tension in fresh, inventive ways. Whether set in safe rooms, airports, or arenas, each title brings its own flavor of suspense — perfect for anyone craving more tightly wound thrillers with a bite.
Drop is currently running in theaters across the world.
