[Yahtzee – Bear McCreary]
On April 9th Northwestern students were able to attend an exclusive screening of Universal Pictures’ new movie Drop.
[nat sound of introducing the movie]
JEFFERSON SNEDEGAR: We hope you enjoy, and lets get it started
[crowd cheers]
Drop follows Violet played by Meghann Fahy, a widowed mother whose night out turns into a nightmare when a mysterious stranger threatens to kill her son unless she murders her date.
[Drop Trailer: Meghann Fahy] “When I find out who is threatening my son, I’ll show them how dangerous a mother can be.”
School of Communications senior Jefferson Snedegar took charge of organizing the event.
SNEDEGAR: I applied and got the NBCUniversal campus brand ambassador position last year in the springtime, a few months ago I got an email from my boss saying we’re gonna be pre-screening Drop and we figured out a date and they sent me some merch. We got in contact with the theater and it happened. It was a lot of fun.
But the biggest priority was getting the word out.
SNEDEGAR: I needed to get butts in seats on April 9th in our specific theater. So that was a lot more postering, that was a lot more physical marketing, talking to people individually. I printed out a bunch of invitations and hand sealed them in envelopes and wrote on them and gave them to every single student in CRC [Communications Residential College].
The posters worked as they caught the attention of Weinberg freshman Addison Brookins.
ADDISON BROOKINS: I saw a flyer this morning on the wall at Kresge when I was at one of my classes so I was like, oh it’s a free movie that sounds fun. I’ve been wanting to see a movie, but there hasn’t been anything good, and I’ve seen a lot of trailers for this movie, so I thought it would be fun to come see it.
For Medill junior Amanda Oliver the free screening was a plus but it was the atmosphere that made it memorable.
AMANDA OLIVER: I really enjoyed it. I think part of it is that I love going to movies with a bunch of Northwestern people because I think the theater interactions and vibes like really play into the movie.
More than 140 Northwestern students RSVPed, packing the 120-seat theater with students who weren’t shy about laughing, cheering and reacting out loud.
[nat sound of cheering]
Though Drop at its core is a digital tech thriller, it blended so many other elements and subgenres that even the organizer was surprised.
SNEDEGAR: I went into this movie a little bit pessimistic. I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle this kind of intense thriller tone with these goofy airdrops. But upon seeing the film, I was thoroughly entertained. I thought that the airdrops added a layer of like fun to this, but they didn’t focus on it too much that it took away from this serious tone and these stakes.
A sentiment shared by others in the audience.
OLIVER: I thought it was really funny. I wasn’t expecting it to be as funny as it was, like all throughout it, there’s really funny like phone memes that happen and just really funny character interactions. And then again with Northwestern students it’s just the humor’s amplified. So the whole movie was just a silly goofy time.
BROOKINS: I liked the pacing of it and I liked the action sequences and it was different than I expected. Really good.
It might not be a classic horror film, but Drop still landed well with viewers, backed up by its 83% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
For those who missed the pre-screening of Drop, the thriller hit theaters on Friday, April 11 and Snedegar says more exclusive screenings could be on the way for Northwestern.
SNEDEGAR: I had a conversation with my boss after our pre-screening and we do not have a date just yet, but stay tuned for a free pre-screening at the AMC Theaters of the new live action How to Train Your Dragon.
For WNUR News I’m Karrah Toatley.
[Yahtzee – Bear McCreary]
