Movies about awkward vacations are a dime a dozen. You’ve seen the trope—friends go to a remote location, someone says something they shouldn’t, and the tension ratchets up until everyone is screaming. But The Drop on Hulu takes a different, much more visceral route. It’s not about a secret affair or a hidden past. It’s about a literal drop. A baby gets dropped. Honestly, if you’re a parent, this movie is less of a comedy and more of a 90-minute anxiety attack that explores the absolute fragility of social standing and trust.
Directed by Sarah Adina Smith, who also co-wrote the script with Joshua Leonard, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before landing on Hulu in early 2023. It didn’t arrive with the massive marketing budget of a Marvel blockbuster, but it lingered. It lingered because it asks a question that most of us are too terrified to answer: What happens when you realize your "perfect" friend might actually be dangerous? Or worse, just incredibly incompetent in a way that can't be fixed with a quick apology?
What actually happens in The Drop?
The setup is deceptively simple. Lex (played by Anna Konkle of PEN15 fame) and Mani (Jermaine Fowler) are a young, deeply in love couple trying to conceive. They travel to a tropical wedding for their friend in Mexico. Everything is idyllic until the inciting incident happens within the first few minutes of the group gathering. Lex is holding her friend's baby. She’s talking, she’s smiling, and then—gravity. She drops the infant.
The baby is fine. Physically, anyway. But the social fabric of the group is instantly, violently shredded.
This isn't a "whoops" moment. It’s a foundational crack. Lex and Mani are already on edge because of their fertility struggles, and now Lex has become the person who dropped the baby. The movie spends the rest of its runtime watching the fallout. It’s not a thriller. There are no jump scares. Instead, it’s a grueling exercise in social discomfort. You watch as the other couples—played by a stellar ensemble including Utkarsh Ambudkar, Jillian Bell, and Aparna Nancherla—slowly begin to treat Lex like a pariah.
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Why this movie feels so different from standard comedies
Most modern comedies rely on punchlines. They want you to laugh every thirty seconds. The Drop doesn't care about your comfort. It leans into the silence. It leans into those long, excruciating moments where no one knows what to say, so someone says the absolute worst thing possible. Sarah Adina Smith uses a largely improvisational style, which gives the dialogue a jagged, authentic feel. People stutter. They talk over each other. They say "um" and "kinda" and "like" in ways that scripted dialogue usually avoids.
It feels real. Almost too real.
The cinematography by Shaheen Seth adds to this. Instead of the bright, saturated look of most "vacation comedies," there’s a handheld, voyeuristic quality to the filming. You feel like you’re trapped on this island with these people, and you desperately want to leave. The movie explores the idea of "community" and how quickly that community can turn into a mob when a taboo is broken. Dropping a baby is one of those ultimate social sins. Even if it’s an accident, it signals a lack of care that people can’t look past.
The cast is doing some heavy lifting
Anna Konkle is incredible here. If you know her from PEN15, you know she’s a master of physical cringe, but in The Drop, she plays it with a haunting vulnerability. You see the internal spiral. She’s trying to convince herself it wasn’t a big deal while simultaneously dying inside. Jermaine Fowler provides the perfect foil as Mani. He’s the one who has to defend her, even as he starts to harbor his own doubts about their future as parents.
The supporting cast brings a specific brand of indie-comedy energy.
- Jillian Bell plays the passive-aggressive friend to perfection.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar embodies the "alpha" of the friend group whose success makes everyone else feel small.
- Aparna Nancherla delivers her signature dry wit, which provides the only real oxygen in an otherwise suffocating atmosphere.
The backlash and the "Likability" trap
When the movie first hit Hulu, the reviews were... mixed, to put it lightly. A lot of viewers hated it. Not because it was poorly made, but because the characters are deeply unlikable. We’ve entered an era of media consumption where audiences often demand characters they can root for. The Drop refuses to provide that. Everyone in this movie is selfish, neurotic, or judgmental.
But that’s the point.
The film is a critique of a certain segment of modern society—the over-educated, self-actualized, "mindful" crowd who talk a lot about empathy but have very little of it when things get messy. It’s a satire of the "curated life." When the baby drops, the curation ends. The raw, ugly human instinct of self-preservation takes over.
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Some critics argued the movie was too mean-spirited. I’d argue it’s just honest. It looks at how we use "safety" as a weapon to exclude people. The parents of the baby (played by Genevieve Angelson and Thomas Middleditch) aren't just hurt; they are performatively devastated. They use their trauma to dominate the group dynamic. It's fascinating and deeply uncomfortable to watch.
Is The Drop worth your time?
If you want a lighthearted romp to put on in the background while you fold laundry, absolutely not. This movie will make your skin crawl. However, if you appreciate films like The Celebration or Force Majeure—movies that take a single moment of human failure and dissect it with a scalpel—then you need to see it.
It's a "vibe" movie, but the vibe is "impending doom."
The film also tackles the anxiety of the "maybe" parent. Lex and Mani are trying to decide if they even want this life. The drop becomes a metaphor for their own fears of inadequacy. Can they handle the responsibility? Is the world too broken to bring a child into? These are heavy questions for a movie that features a subplot about a goat.
Key takeaways for viewers
Watching The Drop requires a specific mindset. You have to be willing to sit with the awkwardness. Here is how to actually get the most out of the experience:
- Don't look for a hero. There isn't one. Accept that everyone is flawed and you'll enjoy the social commentary much more.
- Pay attention to the background. The way the other characters react in the periphery of shots tells the real story of how Lex is being iced out.
- Reflect on the ending. Without spoiling it, the conclusion doesn't tie things up in a neat bow. It leaves you wondering about the longevity of friendships built on surface-level commonalities.
If you’ve ever felt like an outsider in your own friend group, or if you’ve ever made a mistake that you knew, instantly, would change how people saw you forever, this movie will hit home. It’s a brutal, funny, and deeply cynical look at the people we choose to surround ourselves with.
To actually process the film's themes, think about your own "inner circle." Most friendships are based on a series of unspoken contracts. We agree to be nice, we agree to show up, and we agree to be "safe." The Drop shows what happens when that contract is breached. There is no HR department for friendships. There is only the slow, painful realization that you might not belong anymore.
Check your Hulu subscription and carve out a night when you’re feeling particularly resilient. It’s a wild ride, just don't expect a soft landing.
Next Steps for the Interested Viewer
- Watch for the nuance: Pay close attention to Mani’s face during the dinner scene. His internal conflict between being a supportive partner and a horrified bystander is the emotional core of the film.
- Compare and contrast: If you enjoy this, seek out Force Majeure (the original Swedish version). It deals with a similar "moment of cowardice/failure" and how it destroys a marriage.
- Listen to the score: The sound design is intentional. The ambient noises of the jungle often drown out the characters, emphasizing their insignificance in the grand scheme of nature.