This Is Not a Test is a 2025 apocalyptic horror-thriller film directed, written and produced by Adam MacDonald, starring Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez. It is an adaptation of the 2012 novel by Courtney Summers. The film was released in the United States on February 20, 2026, by Independent Film Company and Shudder.
On a morning in December 1998, Sloane Price (Olivia Holt) reads her suicide note and prepares to commit suicide in the bathtub when her father (portrayed by Jeff Roop), a verbally and physically abusive man, calls her for breakfast. When a screaming woman frantically knocks on the door, asking for help, Sloane's father goes to check and comes back to the kitchen, telling his daughter that they have to leave. However, as Sloane rushes out to witness zombies attacking people, one of them turns her attention to Sloane and breaks into the home by smashing through the living room's window. Sloane's father confronts the zombie and is bitten in his left arm before being able to kill the zombie by impaling a broken piece of sharp glass into one of the eyes. Shocked by seeing the fight, Sloane leaves the house and runs for safety, leaving her infected father behind.
Amid the chaos on the neighbourhood's streets, Sloane escapes from a zombie by climbing over the backyard door of a nearby home. In the house's garden, she finds two of her high school classmates, Rhys Moreno (Froy Gutierrez) and Cary Chen (Corteon Moore), whom she joins in the search of a safe place. Back on the streets, the teenagers come across two other of their classmates: Grace and Trace Casper (portrayed by Chloe Avakian and Carson MacCormac, respectively) and their mother (Krista Bridges). The group divides, and tension arises between Cary and Mrs. Casper, who insists on following other security protocols to protect her children. That night, the group sleeps together in an upper-floor room of the house.
Meanwhile, Sloane remembers her older sister, Lily (Joelle Farrow), and the events that made their bond strong before their father's physical abuse forced Lily to abandon the house. The memories include a scene where Lily takes Sloane to school, gifting her with a letter inside a closed yellow envelope as a birthday present. The younger sister decides to read it later and leaves the envelope inside the car's glove compartment. Back in the present, the group escapes from the house after a zombie breaks in, drawing the attention of many others.
After escaping the house, they reach the high school's parking lot and attempt to get to the building. However, Mrs. Carter is killed when she puts herself between the zombies and the teenagers, urging them to run. Inside the school, Cary enters the administration's office and kills a zombified Principal Lively, the youths subsequently barricading themselves inside. In the school's gym, Trace confronts Cary for saying that the way to the building was clear, blaming him for his mother's death. When Trace calls Cary a murderer, Cary lunges at him, and they briefly fight before being separated by the others.
As the teenagers wait for help to arrive, Sloane, Rhys, and Cary find Mr. Baxter (Luke Macfarlane), their English teacher, who is asleep and hiding inside a closet. The boys notice that Mr. Baxter has a gun, which they take from him. After Baxter wakes up and is given food by the kids, his unusual behaviour concerns the group. Upon finding out that Baxter has a bite wound in his arm, they decide that he must leave the building. Although he denies being infected, Baxter bites Cary on the arm before being thrown outside by Trace and Rhys. Precautionarily, Cary stays in the nursing office in case he shows any sign of infection.
During a walk through the school, Sloane finds Mr. Baxter lying in the middle of a hallway, bleeding and severely injured. When others come to see what happened, Grace approaches Baxter and says that he is getting cold. Rhys warns her to stay away from him, but a zombified Baxter attacks her before any possible reaction. Using Baxter's gun, Trace fires a shot into the melee, accidentally hitting Grace, who dies in his arms moments later. Blaming Sloane for getting in the way of his target, Trace lunges at her and kicks her stomach. Cary and Rhys hold him back and forcefully take him away from Sloane, whom they reassure they will protect.
After recovering a sense of normalcy, Sloane goes to the classroom where Trace stays by his sister's body. Sloane apologizes and says that she would have done the same for her sister. Holding the handgun in one of his hands, Trace asks Sloane if she can forgive him. When Sloane tells him that everything is fine, Trace thanks her and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.
Deciding that they cannot remain inside the school any longer, Sloane, Rhys, and Cary go out to get a car and drive to a safe location they heard about on the radio. In one of the town's homes, Cary asks them to run while he distracts the zombies outside. He runs into the street and disappears down the road as zombies chase him from behind. Meanwhile, Sloane and Rhys return to Sloane's home, finding an infected Lily in the basement. Lily attacks Sloane, who kills her by impaling her with a metal bar through the head. Lying next to the basement's sofa, Sloane sees her father's body, suggesting that he may have attacked and bitten Lily.
Sloane and Rhys take the family car and set out to drive to the area indicated by the emergency radio transmission. As Rhys finishes details with the car, Sloane reads the yellow envelope from the glove compartment, where she finds warm words that Lily wrote for her. When Rhys starts the engine, Sloane discards her suicide note, and they depart together.
The film is from Anova Pictures in association with North Avenue Pictures and WorldOne Entertainment. It is directed by Adam MacDonald who is also a producer alongside Cybill Lui. It is adapted from the 2012 young adult novel by Courtney Summers.
The cast is led by Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, and Luke MacFarlane, as well as Corteon Moore, Chloe Avakian and Carson MacCormac.
Principal photography took place in February 2025 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The film was released in the United States on February 20, 2026, by Independent Film Company and Shudder, and was released in Canada a week later by Blue Fox Entertainment.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 33 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Weighed down by weak characters and technical shortcomings, This Is Not a Test is a thin, frustrating zombie film with not much to say."
Ross McIndoe of Slant Magazine gave the film a score of 1/4, writing, "The film brings the undead to life, so to speak, with some solid make-up work, and the story is filled with imaginatively gory bits of action. Unfortunately, it has a much harder time trying to bring its non-zombie characters to life." RogerEbert.com's Simon Abrams wrote, "What's mostly lacking is a matter of character-enhancing detail, the kind that would better integrate the movie's high-concept thrills with its heartstring-tugging melodrama. Soapy's not bad, but This is Not a Test lacks the sensationalism or sensitivity to make it more than a wan misfire", and gave it a score of 2/4. Rue Morgue's Michael Gingold said, "What it needed, at this point in its particular genre, was either a more adventurous approach to the material or a deeper, fresher dig into the psyches of its young people forced to grow up fast."
Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media gave the film a score of 3/5, writing, "It's only a so-so zombie flick, but this horror thriller is still a pretty good YA movie, character-focused and in tune with the teens' troubles, frustrations, cares, and concerns." Andrew Parker of The GATE gave it 6/10, calling it "a meat and potatoes kind of horror movie with just enough of a powerful hook to keep things interesting."