“Whistle” (2025) feels as if it is a bunch of pieces from different jigsaw puzzles thrown together to form a movie forgetting that the point is to assemble a complete, cohesive picture, not to stick everything together. When an Aztec relic enters a high school, no one can resist blowing it, but if you hear it, your future death will hunt you down and kill you before your time is up. When a group of five students from different strata of high school society are thrown together, they struggle to work together to survive. The most realistic aspect of this movie is how group projects are impossible.
“Whistle” is the kind of movie that you get when someone really wants to make a movie set in the Eighties but can’t be bothered because they want some contemporary sensibilities and references. It is “The Breakfast Club” (1985) meets the “Just Say No” campaign vying to best the “Final Destination” franchise with an aesthetic dash of “The Crow” (1994) among many other things. What is most frustrating about the story is that it has flashes that indicate if writer Owen Egerton decided to go further down a particular road, it could have found its footing, but it never sticks to a path. The filmmakers clearly love horror movies and want to pay homage, but that love does not translate to a consistently enjoyable, entertaining movie.
Chrysanthemum, nicknamed Chrys (Dafne Keen, who was amazing in “Logan”), is styled like Ally Sheedy who retrospectively seems cheery in comparison. Chrys recently moved to Pellington, New York (that is what the license plate says) to live with her hyper, initially chipper, comic book loving cousin, Rel (Sky Yang). Who drove her? Are there any adults? Good luck finding any adult relatives before the sixty-four-minute mark, which is when “Whistle” begins to pack a punch. Correlation is causation. Chrys is traumatized for (spoiler) reasons. Rel has a huge crush on Grace (Ali Skovbye), who is popular and styled like a cheerleader, but is not. Grace is a dedicated student; however, she dates a basketball jock, Dean (Jhaleil Swaby), who is a complete jerk to everyone. Grace is friends with Ellie, an aspiring doctor who works at a hospital. Chrys and Ellie have immediate chemistry, which you would not find in an Eighties movie because of the speed of the attraction and the same sex orientation. Tanner Church (Mika Amonsen) is Dean’s friend, but he stays in the margins, and if he was supposed to play a bigger role, it did not happen, but not early enough to cut him out altogether. If Dean and Grace’s relationship was developed more and Dean was less antagonistic, “Whistle” may have resonated more emotionally.
“Whistle” reveals too much about the mythology too soon so there is little to no suspense. Once the group is not required to congregate, the story’s biggest mistake is to still attempt to keep them together. Choose a protagonist or two and keep it pushing. Technically Chrys is the protagonist, but a ton of time is devoted to each character, which is not bad, but they are so underwritten, it is as if the characters were born on set, and the actors were doing all the heavy lifting. The ensemble cast really try to spin some gold from straw so if it falls flat, it is not their fault. It felt like a complete waste of talent, especially Nick Frost as Mr. Craven (yes, a Wes Craven reference and not the only one for “Nightmare on Elm Street” fans) and “Game of Thrones” Michelle Fairley who plays Ivy Raymore, the grandmother of the first victim, Horse (Stephen Kalyn), another basketball player. Fairley does make an impact and is basically the Tony Todd of this aspiring franchise (please, no). When Ivy offers the solution, and one of the five tries to exercise that option then gets talked out of it, it is so aggravating and annoying, but hey, it leads to one of several gruesome deaths so let’s sign a waiver.
Is “Whistle” scary? Never. You must be invested in characters to care if anyone lives or dies. The film consists of mostly lukewarm jump scares tying together archetypes with spit and gum. I began regretting not checking out the people behind the scenes because Corin Hardy also directed “The Nun” (2018), which I think is pure garbage. Instead of character development or a plot, there are gruesome deaths, so the special effects really need to hit otherwise it is a complete waste of time. One death scene is more evocative and referential than terrifying with a Sam Raimi homage to Spider-Man. At that sixty-four-minute mark, director Hardy earns his paycheck with some great special effects fueled deaths and redeemed his name. Normalize making the entire movie good. Just make a shorter movie. Have you wanted to see someone ground up into a pulp as if they were in a work accident at Verhoeven Steel (reference to Paul Verhoeven of “RoboCop” and “Showgirls” fame)? How about get torn apart in a car accident? While the lemon is still not worth the squeeze, these graphic deaths feel as if the average movie goer did not entirely waste their time.
“Whistle” also features an amazing soundtrack from composer Doomphonic, which is their first. When I was watching “Shelter” (2025), I found myself missing movie soundtracks that were so good that you wanted to buy them and dance to them later like “Virtuosity” (1995). Instead, it was just some placeholder electronic dance music. While this movie wants you to stick around for the post credits scene, you will stick around to dance in your seat. Also, there is a great cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”
“Whistle” could have worked if the horror was more closely linked to the real-world problem of premature deaths among young people because of drugs. Chrys did not have to be the new kid. Maybe they do not have to be in high school thus no need for parents, and how they mostly have real jobs. Hammer home the drug theme except use opioids. Also, Hardy loves to hate the youth pastor, Noah Haggerty (Percy Hynes White), who pops up like a jump scare and is irredeemable in an over-the-top way. Hardy only omits one despicable rung on the ladder of bad pastor: sexual abuse. His first punishment is a scene straight out of “Chinatown” (1974). There is some genuine emotion stemming from hate of hypocrisy and religious trauma, and maybe it holds the real heart of the story so he should explore and focus on it instead of coming at it sideways. Commit to the bit. Manic pixie boy Rel’s visceral hated of Noah is the most credible element. No one asked for it, but it is there so time to unpack your bag of rocks, Hardy. Mine your pain for art.
If you feel compelled to see “Whistle” in theaters, only pay matinee prices, but it is not worth it. Even if you patiently wait for it to find its footing, you will not be rewarded. It is supposed to be life affirming despite tragedy, but it is so vague to make a lasting impact.
