''The Drop'' is a 2022 American

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

directed by

Sarah Adina Smith Sarah Adina Smith is an American film writer, director, and editor. Films she has directed include '' Buster's Mal Heart'' (2016), and '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014). She also directed two episodes from the television series ''Room 104''. Her films ...

, written by Smith and

Joshua Leonard Joshua Granville Leonard (born June 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role in ''The Blair Witch Project'' (1999). He has since starred in films such as '' Madhouse'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006), '' Higher G ...

, and starring

Anna Konkle Anna Konkle (born April 7, 1987) is an American actress, writer and director. She is known for co-creating and starring as Anna Kone on Hulu's original TV comedy series ''PEN15'', alongside Maya Erskine. Her work on the series earned her two Pr ...

and

Jermaine Fowler Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as King Akeem Joffer's long-lost son Lavelle Junson in the 2021 romantic comedy film ''Coming 2 America'' and Franco Wicks on the CBS sit ...

. It premiered at the 2022

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

and was released on Hulu on January 13, 2023.

Plot

The film follows a young married couple, Lex and Mani, running an artisanal bakery in Los Angeles and making plans to start a family. Their plans are thrown into upheaval when, while at a tropical resort for a destination wedding, Lex accidentally drops their friend's baby.

Cast

as Lex *

as Mani *

Jillian Bell Jillian Leigh Bell (born April 25, 1984) is an American actress, comedian and screenwriter. She stars in the 2019 film ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'' and 2022's ''I'm Totally Fine''. She starred as Jillian Belk on ''Workaholics'', voiced the role o ...

as Lindsey *

Utkarsh Ambudkar Utkarsh Ambudkar ( ; born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including '' Pitch Perfect'' (2012), ''Game Over, Man!'' (2018), ''Blindspotting'' (20 ...

as Robbie *

Robin Thede Robin Thede ( ) is an American comedian, actress and writer. Raised in Iowa, she has also worked as an entertainment correspondent, host, and radio personality. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to be head writer for a late- ...

as Shauna *

Aparna Nancherla Aparna Nancherla (born August 22, 1982) is an American comedian and actress of Indian descent. She has appeared on '' Inside Amy Schumer'' and has written for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' and '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell''. Nancherla ...

as Mia *

as Josh *

Jennifer Lafleur Jennifer Lafleur is an American actress. She is known for appearing in the independent films '' The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' (2012), ''The Pretty One'' (2013), '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014), ''MAD'' (2016) and ''6 Years'' (2015). On television, Lafl ...

as Peggy *

Elisha Henig Elisha Henig (born October 30, 2004) is an American actor. Personal life and career Elisha Henig grew up in Portland, Oregon, and became interested in acting after taking a Shakespeare class at the age of eight. He began acting in guest roles ...

as Levi

Production

The script was written by

, who also directed the film, and

, who also appears in the film. Smith and Leonard produced alongside Jonako Donley,

Mel Eslyn Mel Eslyn (born August 19, 1983) is an American film producer, director and writer. She works primarily in the Seattle independent film industry and has collaborated with Lynn Shelton and Mark and Jay Duplass on numerous films. She is best know ...

, Shuli Harel, Tim Headington, and Lia Buman. It was executive produced by

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, ...

and

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films '' The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, ...

. Smith said she had the idea for the story while thinking about the 2014 Swedish film '' Force Majeure''. It was filmed in the United States and Mexico during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, which Smith said was a challenge.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on June 11, 2022. The film was released on Hulu on January 13, 2023.

Reception

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on reviews from 39 critics, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''The Drop'' has its finger on the pulse and a game cast trying to keep it alive, but despite its heart being in the right place, this comedy's electrocardiogram is as flat as the Great Plains." Noel Murray of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' wrote that while the film "doesn't always work as a comedy, it does have the ring of hard-won truth" by demonstrating "how someone's seemingly rock-solid reputation can be undone in an instant." Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com awarded the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing that despite an "intriguing premise, ''The Drop'' never reaches its full cringe comedy potential."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drop 2022 black comedy films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American black comedy films Duplass Brothers Productions films Hulu original films