THIS IS NOT A TEST

This Is Not a Test mixes the teen coming of age subgenre with the onset of the zombie apocalypse, finding both moments of terror and quiet reflection in Adam MacDonald’s latest horror film that packs bloody mayhem but falls short of the meaningful character driven narrative it strives for.

Canadian writer and director Adam MacDonald has been working in the horror genre for over a decade now, delivering terrifying smaller scale films that not enough viewers have seen. His first feature film, Backcountry, was a nail biting horror film of a camping trip gone horribly wrong that is still burnt into viewers’ memory, with its graphic bear attacks that still haunt this reviewer over a decade later. Though, with his latest film This Is Not a Test, MacDonald delivers his most mainstream film to date with a cast that features Olivia Holt, Luke MacFarlane and Froy Gutierrez as he adapts Courtney Summers critically acclaimed novel for the big screen. Naturally with his background, MacDonald’s direction and adaptation soars in the zombie moments, delivering a bloody mayhem that audiences want from this horror subgenre, even if the character drama at the core of this story isn’t as effective as it could be. But with the strong performances of Olivia Holt and Luke Macfarlane at the heart of the film, this young adult zombie film hits all the right notes that will no doubt satisfy viewers.

Zombies have always reflected something more in cinema than a horde of the undead, hungry for living human brains, and the zombies in This Is Not a Test follows suit. With the zombie horde outside the school, trying to get in as Sloane and her fellow survivors hide inside, the zombies personify the internal trauma raging within Sloane. Grappling with the abuse of her father and her older sister abandoning her, leaving Sloane to live alone with her father, the isolation that Sloane feels inside is reflected by her surroundings. The long empty hallways, the lack of light or life, with her dreams of a zombie being inside the school adding some effective jump scares, MacDonald creates a quiet meditation on trauma with the zombies being the physical personification of that trauma trying to engulf Sloane. It’s a great idea for the film to build its core around, giving the audience a taste of what The Breakfast Club would be like set during the zombie apocalypse, but MacDonald’s screenplay never digs deep enough into these ideas to create the emotionally effective story that it had the potential to be. For too long does the screenplay focus on these quiet moments, after the quick paced opening scenes that gets Sloane and the other survivors to the high school, lingering too long without much forward momentum before the stakes rapidly increase with the culmination of the Mr. Baxter storyline and their run for freedom in the film’s rather short final act. At the same time, MacDonald never explores the ideas of Summer’s novel in depth, creating a more atmospheric film that simulates Sloane’s inner state but never ventures deep enough into it, merely teasing the trauma then fully unpacking it.

While the quieter character exploration is not MacDonald’s strength as a storyteller, the zombie sequences are where his direction excels. Capturing an unbridled chaos, MacDonald conjures up pure terror as the zombies attack which is certain to create thrills within all viewers while simultaneously raising their heart beats. With strong makeup and prosthetics work to turn the actors into the undead, with copious amounts of fake blood, there is an unflinching terror that appears on screen when the zombies arrive, that when combined with the fierce violence of their attacks and the quick moving camera work that encapsulates the chaos and horrors of these moments, delivers a bloodcurdling experience. It is in these sequences that the film succeeds, creating a palpable tension as Sloane and her friends are faced with life or death situations, spiking heart rates within the audience as zombies attack or a claustrophobic panic as the characters face the terrifying truth that there might be a zombie in the school where they are hiding.

Holt is the star of the film, comfortably carrying the entire production on her shoulders from start to finish. She finds a strength in Sloane’s stillness, grappling with the traumas of her character’s past as it bleeds into her fight for survival, delivering a harrowing performance with an unflinching emotional depth that elevates this character driven zombie drama and makes . With so much of the film focused on Holt’s Sloane, the writing for the supporting cast is definitely lacking as they do not necessarily get their standout moment, but Carson MacCormac excels in his character’s defining moment in the final act. Fans of MacDonald’s previous films will notice Jeff Roop and Missy Peregrym in smaller supporting roles, giving a nice nod to MacDonald’s overall filmography. Though, the best performance of the film belongs to Macfarlane as Mr. Baxter, infusing the character and film with a heartbreaking fragility and desperation. At the mercy of his students, with mistrust and paranoia running high, Macfarlane finds a humanity in an otherwise bleak world, begging for kindness, mercy and understanding with a vulnerability that not only sells his character’s narrative arc over the film, but questions the lengths and tough decisions we as a human race will make for a chance of survival.

Finding a niche area within the teen coming of age drama by infusing it with the zombie apocalypse, director Adam MacDonald continues the strong string of Canadian horror films audiences have been treated to over the past few months with This Is Not a Test. Even though the screenplay doesn’t move beyond its surface exploration of trauma, Adam MacDonald’s direction that personifies this trauma into a horde of blood thirsty zombies and the chaos he unleashes during the zombie attacks is more than enough to wet the appetite of horror fans. Led by the strong performances of Olivia Holt and Luke Macfarlane who create the emotional fight for survival at the core of this story, Adam MacDonald unleashes a wave of terror with the chaos, strong special effects and excellent makeup design in bringing to life the dawn of the zombie apocalypse in This Is Not a Test, making for a solid addition to the young adult horror lineup.