Drop ending explained: The real person threatening Violet Gates revealed

Drop is a thriller film directed by Christopher Landon. It's written by Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs, while Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Brad Fuller, and Cameron Fuller are its producers. The film had its world premiere at the SXSW Festival, and it was released theatrically on April 11, 2025, by Universal Pictures. Here's the official synopsis as mentioned in Letterboxd:

Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she is relieved that her date, Henry, is more charming and handsome than she expected. But their chemistry begins to curdle as Violet begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.

So, who was the one terrorizing the protagonist? Let us examine its ending and unmask the anonymous antagonist.

What is the plot of Drop?

A still from Drop | Image via Universal Pictures

Drop focuses on Violet Gates (played by Meghann Fahy), who works as a therapist in Chicago. She lives with her son, Toby, and is coping with the death of her husband, Blake, who was abusive towards her. She decides to start dating after several years and meets a guy named Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar). However, her nice evening is disrupted after she starts receiving disturbing and threatening drops on her phone asking her to kill her date.

How does Drop end?

The main question that lingers in Drop is who is behind those threatening messages that Violet is receiving. After she messes up the tormentor's plan to make her shoot her date, Henry, Violet speaks to the bartender, Cara (Gabriella Ryan), who reveals that a guy named Richard (Reed Diamond) has been watching them. Richard pretended to be on a blind date while keeping an eye on Violet's actions. He probably cloned the mobile phone of Violet, which he used to send those messages.

Towards the end, Violet laces a tequila shot with poison and gives it to Richard. He mentions her name to not take the drink. Things become tricky after Violet reveals she never told him what her name was. Realizing he is exposed, Richard reveals that he is assigned to kill Henry as the latter works as an FBI informant. Richard, meanwhile, is under the payroll of the city's mayor.

He forces her to offer the poisoned tequila to Henry, which she does. In a flashback sequence, we are shown that her abusive husband used to order a dessert whenever he took her out for an apology dinner. Richard orders the same dessert. She poisoned Richard's dessert while he was looking at Henry. Having finished his food, Richard takes out a gun to shoot her, but Henry intervenes. A scuffle takes place, and Richard falls from the building to his death.

Violet then runs to her house, where Richard had sent a hitman to eliminate Jen. Again, a deadly fight takes place, and the hitman shoots at Jen. Toby manages to give Violet the gun, and she uses it to kill the hitman. Jen makes it out alive. Henry is hospitalized, but he manages to plan a second date with Violet. The film's protagonist finally manages to find love and leaves the clutches of being controlled.