If you are sick of zombies, “This Is Not a Test” (2025) is not the cure. The movie loosely adapts Canadian author Courtney Summers’ 2012 novel, which she expanded in 2024 and continued with a sequel novella that will come out later this year. I’ve only read a summary of the book. Five teens barricade themselves inside Cortege High after the zombie apocalypse starts, when they are chased from their homes and separated from their family. Will they find a reason to keep living? Meh, will you care? If you are new to the zombie genre, then this movie will impress you, but if you already saw an episode of “The Walking Dead” or “Dawn of the Dead” (2004), keep it pushing. Even “We Bury the Dead” (2024), which had no bite, is comparatively stronger as a psychological horror film.
Sloane Price (Olivia Holt) has a bag full of rocks before the zombie apocalypse starts, but let’s not spoil the problems that existed before the world fell apart. Her problems make Sloane distinct otherwise there is not a lot there until a new potential threat is introduced late in “This Is Not a Test,” and she is decisive about how they should handle it. Even that storyline gets squashed amidst all the chaos of teens bickering. Rhys Moreno (Froy Gurtierrez) has a huge crush on her and looks the actor’s age, almost thirty. Cary (Corteon Moore) is the muscle who protects the group and acts like the natural leader, which Trace Casper (Carson MacCormac) resents. Trace’s sister, Grace (Chloe Avakian), is the peacemaker and gets along with everyone in the group. When “Whistle” (2025) worked, it is because the cast imbued the characters with more gravitas than the writers put on the page. This cast does no more or less than what they were given, and it makes for a boring ride. Most of the personal dynamic can be categorized as power struggles or flirting. The audience only knows Sloane’s mindset, so Sloane is supposed to be the protagonist, but the other characters overpower her in terms of taking up room. It is a lot of noise, and it makes the souffle go flat.
The only potentially interesting character is Mr. Baxter (Luke Macfarlane) because he is furtive and suspicious. Macfarlane has a Jeremy Sisto vibe (compliment) that can go either way, sinister or traumatized because there is a zombie apocalypse. He appears to be a character created for the movie. Unfortunately, “This Is Not a Test” does not use him to the fullest. There is a theme of distrusting adults or the people that they are supposed to rely on, but it is not fully fleshed out, and the way that the material is filmed, characters who are supposed to be unequivocally disreputable seem as if the teens are misreading them, and they are well intentioned, which seems like a severe departure in translating one character from the text to the screen. The lesson is supposed to be that people can be the real problem, which is as revolutionary as florals in spring.
Baxter also introduces a problem that never gets addressed. “This Is Not a Test” is a film that acts as if it is the first zombie movie that ever existed and is clearly excited about how it staged the outbreak. To be fair, it is done well, but it is not fresh except for how the zombies go dormant when there are no people to attack. How does Baxter get inside the school? On one hand, these are teenagers. They are not great tacticians and do not have to make the wisest decisions, but they rarely do anything right. It is difficult to root for thinly drawn characters who also fail to show the slightest chance of passing a Darwin test.
Structurally, “This Is Not a Test” fumbles the plot so if the movie copies the novel, then so be it. It still does not work. It starts strong and slowly ramps up the tension at home before the chaos strikes outside then fast forwards to the group congregated in the school before stopping, rewinding, and showing how they became a group and who they lost along the way. Why!?! It did nothing to enhance the story and obfuscated a story line about the conflict between Cary and Trace. At the end of the movie, it becomes obvious who was right, but it was a missed opportunity to develop Cary’s storyline independent from Nick’s judgment and overpowered Nick’s interactions with everyone else. None of the characters seem fully realized, but Cary and Nick get an eleventh-hour spotlight that should have been shown earlier so the movie goer could hold on to something.
“This Is Not a Test” is supposed to be a period film and a Christmas film. It starts on December 12, 1998. This detail is not revisited until the denouement when a scene straight from “28 Days Later” (2002) is recreated when the teens enter a house. Again, filmmakers need to realize that other movies exist so even if the film is faithful to the source material, it must be updated and cognizant of its contemporary environment. A lot of zombie content has come out since 2012. Again, it is a great zombie movie, but not original.
There is one original aspect of the story, but it is a spoiler. Writer and director Adam MacDonald does a great job of prioritizing showing over prose dumps telling the viewer what is happening. On one hand, MacDonald does a good job of making words legible for the audience to read it. On the other hand, he does not linger long enough so the content could be a blink and miss it scenario. I got a screener so I could rewind at home. “This Is Not a Test” is supposed to be a psychological horror movie except the worst parts have nothing to do with the zombies, but what has happened to Sloane. There are Afterschool Specials that have more impact on these important issues. Based on the denouement, it appears that Nick is supposed to be more of a foil for Sloane than any other character. For huge swaths of the story, it feels like an afterthought. The emotional impact is theoretical, not visceral.
There is so much good content jockeying for your attention. “This Is Not a Test” is not bad, but even if someone judges it compared to other new releases coming out this week, it is not good. It does its job, but it does not touch the heart, mind or soul for longer than a moment, and when it does, it is only when a character is preparing for their curtain call when it is too late. Here is a revolutionary idea. Make the whole movie good and make every character riveting from the beginning.
