This Is Not a Test

I love a good zombie movie, but unfortunately there are only so many ways you can make one. The usual questions are: will the zombies be slow or fast? What caused the outbreak? And… is this somehow a good place for a musical number? (Shout-out to Anna and the Apocalypse.) The point is, it’s hard to make a zombie movie feel truly unique because, for the most part, we’ve been there and done that. Adam MacDonald dives into the genre with This Is Not a Test, and while it may not set the world on fire, it delivers a solid entry into zombie cinema.

Sloane (Olivia Holt) hasn’t had an easy life. She lives with an abusive father who seems to take his failures out on his two daughters. Her older sister Lily (Joelle Farrow) has already left home, but Sloane is still in school, so she’s stuck. Life is about to get even more chaotic when, one day, the world around them collapses as zombies begin attacking everyone in sight. Sloane manages to escape and runs into some high school friends—Rhys (Froy Gutierrez), Cary (Corteon Moore), Trace (Carson MacCormac), and Grace (Chloe Avakian)—along with Grace’s mother. Everyone except the mother makes it to the high school, where they set up camp. Things remain relatively quiet until Sloane spots someone else, and the group discovers their teacher, Mr. Baxter (Luke Macfarlane), is hiding in a classroom. His presence soon fractures the group’s unity, breaking trust as they struggle to figure out how to survive.

Written by Adam MacDonald and based on Courtney Summers’ novel, This Is Not a Test isn’t focused on body counts or nonstop chaos. Instead, it puts us inside the mind of a central character who isn’t trying to be a hero. Sloane is dealing with her own emotional battles, and we experience the outside world largely through her state of mind, which sometimes makes what’s happening beyond her feel less important than what’s happening within. The story plays with time, jumping across days as Sloane and her classmates try to survive inside the school. These quieter, character-driven moments are meant to land emotionally, though they don’t always hit as strongly as intended.

This Is Not a Test opens with impact, pulling us into its world in a memorable way, but it does feel uneven at times. Much of this comes during the group’s time inside the school, where certain stretches drag longer than they should, undercutting some of the tension. Still, MacDonald does a strong job giving the characters personal moments, occasionally giving the film a subtle John Hughes-like feel. There’s plenty of blood and gore, though hardcore horror fans may find it a bit restrained. For everyone else, MacDonald respects the source material while keeping the focus on emotion, balancing character drama with zombie chaos to ultimately deliver a solid watch.