Publication Date: 02-21-2026

This is Not a Test (2026) review

Dir. Adam MacDonald

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★½

This is Not a Test is an endurance test in itself. A patience-testing timewaster, it asks the question: what if the zombie apocalypse took a backseat to teen angst? Such an approach to the tired genre is not necessarily wrongheaded, but when a concept is this flaccid with its drama and shoddy with its sound mixing, what choice does the human mind have but to wander?

In adapting Courtney Summers’ novel to film, Adam MacDonald had to have John Hughes on the mind when writing the script. A teen-centric zombie movie, which is largely confined to a group of adolescents taking shelter in a high school is a worthy concept that inspires demented Breakfast Club vibes. However, this ensemble falls flat, and the interpersonal dialog between Sloane (Olivia Holt) — a young woman who grew up with an abusive father (Jeff Roop) and a sister (Joelle Farrow) who ran away when she finally had enough — and her peers, including love interest Rhys (Froy Gutierrez), jock Cary (Corteon Moore), and the emotionally vulnerable Trace (Carson MacCormac), is lackluster to say the least. It’s 1998, so that justifies the lack of cellphones. The presence of Rhys allows Sloane to exorcise her traumatic family drama that predates the zombie takeover, yet nobody beside Sloane has much of a personality. Sloane and her baggage are the star of this show. Consequently, the human interest angle of the story doesn’t work.

Even when the group decides to play “Never Have I Ever,” it doesn’t feel raw and lived-in. It feels like an excuse for one character to see if anyone has ever had sex in the school before another pivots by curiously inquiring if anyone has ever fallen in love. All this while unfolding while zombies are raging outside reminded me of the okedoke the original Purge pulled on us by filling us in on a world of chaos outside before trapping us inside a rich family’s well-protected mansion.

While it’s not This is Not a Test‘s fault, it doesn’t help matters that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple came out a month ago. That film proved that you don’t need to make zombies the star of the show to have a quality zombie movie. However, what you do need is a direction, along with compelling characterization, both of which MacDonald’s film lacks.

What is the fault of the production is the atrocious sound mixing. Far too often, the score impedes on the dialog. At other times, the audio is just outright bad, drowning out the characters with a loud, disruptive bass underneath the actors’ voices. When the teens are in the high school gymnasium, the echoing surroundings make it hopeless trying to understand what they’re saying. When anyone talks in a volume other than their outside voice, it’s barely audible at best and indecipherable at worse, proving there’s nothing more frustrating than a bad movie you can’t hear. This is Not a Test is about as fun as taking a high school test.

Starring: Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, Carson MacCormac, Corteon Moore, Chloe Avakian, Joelle Farrow, Luke MacFarlane, and Jeff Roop. Directed by: Adam MacDonald.