Written And Directed by Adam MacDonald
Rhys (to everyone): "Never have I ever survived a zombie invasion."
Keeping with the horror for this year, I went for something on the zombie side of things. Not really my favourite subgenre within the horror space and this movie wouldn't be one to convert me either.
The movie started off like a grim family drama with a young girl named Sloane Price (Olivia Holt) about to attempt suicide in the bathtub. She doesn't go through with it but an altercation with her father (Jeff Roop) showed him to be an abusive scumbag towards her.
There's flashbacks peppered throughout the movie that showed Sloane's older sister, Lily (Joelle Farrow) being no longer able to tolerate their father and leaving. Lily promised to come back and get Sloane. It's not a promise that she's able to keep and their eventual reunion would be horrifying for both of them.
Anyways the film itself revolved around an outbreak with most of the town being infected. Sloane's dad didn't last long and Sloane ended up going to her highschool for sanctuary and also teamed up with fellow students. Those included boyfriend of sorts, Rhys Moreno (Froy Gutierrez), brother and sister duo Trace (Carson MacCormac) and Grace Casper (Chloe Avakian) and bad boy Cary Chen (Corteon Moore).
As a group, they're not exactly a united front and the discovery of their teacher Mr. Baxter (Luke Macfarlane) brought out their worst and then the death of Grace further splintered the group. Throw in a subplot where Lily was apparently in a safe area and things really ended on a tragic family note for Sloane and a bittersweet note overall.
- This book is based on Courtney Summers 2012 young adult novel of the same name.
- At one point in the movie, Sloane catches Grace and Cary hooking up before Grace died.
- Standout music: Orbital's Halycon and On and On.
- Chronology: December 12th 1998.
This Is Not A Test (2026) made for a rather middle of the road zombie film. There's decent chemistry with the main cast but it's very plodding in parts and generally a bit dull.
Rating: 5 out of 10
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