New Blumhouse movie Drop premiered at SXSW last night where the enthusiastic audience reacted rapturously to the high-concept thriller. Drop stars The White Lotus season 2’s Meghann Fahy as widowed mother Violet, who is optimistic about her first date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), but things turn south when she receives a mysterious anonymous drop to her phone that tells her she has to kill her date, or else something bad will happen to her kid.

In addition to Fahy and Sklenar, Drop features stars Violett Beane, Reed Diamond, Sarah McCormack, and Gabrielle Ryan, and is directed by Christopher Landon. Drop held its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas on Sunday, March 9. Following the screening, a Q&A was held with director Landon and actors Fahy and Sklenar.

Drop Had The Audience Gasping, Cheering, & Laughing

The Thriller Hit All The Right Notes For SXSW

Drop was the last screening of the night at the Paramount Theatre, but even though it was later in the evening, the energy was palpable. Landon introduced the film with an emotional story about his journey as a filmmaker, saying he was ready to give up on his career when he moved to Austin and was inspired by the local film community.

This full-circle moment proved perfect for SXSW – the audience ate up the twisty thriller, cheering when Violet is able to one-up her tormentor and screaming when some of Drop‘s shocking moments played out. After the screening, Fahy, Sklenar, and Landon came out for a Q&A to thunderous applause to talk about the film.

Drop Is Meghann Fahy’s Most Physical Role Yet

The Film Gets Quite Intense

During this welcome Q&A, Fahy and Sklenar talked about the intense process that went into Fahy’s role. The actor mentioned that “it was [her] first time doing a lot of this stuff” in terms of stunt work. She did have to hang out of a window in her harness, though co-star Sklenar joked that she “loves flying around in that thing.” In addition to this tough physical work, Fahy explained how well she was drawn to Violet as a protagonist. Check out the full quotes from Fahy and Sklenar below:

Fahy: [The stunt team] took really good care of me. It was my first time doing a lot of this stuff and it was an incredible learning experience. It was really hard hanging out of that window in the harness. There was one day where I was like, ‘You’ve gotta put me back down on the ground.’

Sklenar: She loves the harness. She loves flying around in that thing. It’s really comfortable

Fahy: You couldn’t get me out of it! I loved her [the character, Violet] immediately and I just thought it was really beautiful the way that they sort of wove in her past experience. Something Chris and I talked about was how sort of uniquely suited she is to be in the situation that she’s in. I was immediately smitten with her.

While Fahy is no stranger to elevated drama, being in such a physical role is very new to her. Her most prominent roles in the past include The Bold Type, The White Lotus, and The Perfect Couple, which have some overlap with Drop in that they include romantic plotlines, but are otherwise very different genre-wise. Drop allows Fahy to explore a different side of her career. The Drop trailer was exciting on its own, and now the SXSW reaction is another great sign for the thriller.