This Is Not a Test (2026) but It Is a Fine Teen Zombie Drama
Title: This Is Not a Test
First Non-Festival Release: February 20, 2026 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Adam MacDonald
Writer: Courtney Summers, Adam MacDonald
Runtime: 103 Minutes
Starring: Olivia Holt, Jeff Roop, Froy Gutierrez
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Coming-of-age can be difficult in any context as children and teenagers experience the world uniquely. When they are forced to contend with conflict beyond the everyday, impulsivity, ignorance, and fear can take over leading to poor decision-making. It’s easy to see this if one interacts with young adults enough and can understand the psychology of how stress impacts younger brains.
In the throes of the zombie apocalypse, teenagers take shelter at their local high school. On the day of the event, Sloane (Olivia Holt) gets into a fight with her abusive father (Jeff Roop) before escaping to the streets and meeting up with some of her high school peers, including Rhys (Froy Gutierrez). While dodging the hordes of vicious zombies, the teens hatch a plan to hide out at the high school where it should be safe. When the crew eventually makes it to the school, they waste little time before barricading themselves in. With plenty of supplies and a relatively fortified shelter, the teenagers develop a delicate sense of safety. This momentary respite is disrupted when they realize they are not alone inside.
Young Adult zombie drama This Is Not a Test is a messy yet thoughtful teen horror.
Teenagers facing the apocalypse alone may seem like an uninspired idea until one considers the state of the world now. With how much is piled onto young people, it can feel like the weight of the world is placed on their shoulders. The existential threats of war, climate change, and political corruption persist regardless, much like the zombie apocalypse. Unable to understand the gravity of their situation, the teens in This Is Not a Test bicker while building a false sense of security in their school. Protected by the sprawling hallways and minimal supplies, the teens try to delay the inevitable but the forces of the zombie apocalypse, like many adult realities, is too much to bear.
This Is Not a Test uses a haphazard approach to storytelling, intercutting various flashbacks from Sloane’s point of view throughout the narrative. It’s a disorienting experience. Weaving between the moments before the teenagers seek permanent shelter and the present dramatic scuffles, This Is Not a Test gets lost in the moments where the teens breakdown from their situation. Disagreements about survival strategy bleed into drinking games and nurse’s office sex play. These moments are fiery but become repetitive as the melodrama takes over. Its disorientating approach to the zombie apocalypse bolsters its messaging about coming-of-age in chaos but fails to leave a lasting impact thanks to the disorder.
Uneven performances and stilted dialogue make it difficult to take some of these heavier moments seriously. Olivia Holt and Troy Gutierrez give convincing performances, Holt capturing the sheer shock of their collective traumatic experience and Gutierrez earnestly urging the crew along to fight for their survival. Holt especially embodies Sloane, coloring the final girl role with a more realistic approach. The rest of the teens do a fine job, but the supporting cast gives the shakier performances. The dialogue doesn’t help. Dripping with the same energy of The Breakfast Club, only in a 90s setting, This Is Not a Test gets lost in the petty jabs and middling monologues.
Lame zombie action and awful pacing suck the energy from moments that should propel the film forward. The zombies themselves feel more like an afterthought here. Sure, their omnipresence allows for some tense scenes of the characters escaping to and from the school, but their inclusion in the narrative is clunky. Rules aren’t clarified, awkward flashbacks derail scenes, and the intensity of the carnage slides from one extreme to the next. The attacks themselves are suitably distressing but lack the finesse to be truly affecting causing This Is Not a Test to struggle maintaining tension. Between the strained teen drama and the empty zombie apocalypse, there’s not much meat between the scenes to make the young adult horror work.
A mixed bag for sure, This Is Not a Test infuses teen angst with cold zombie tension to create a unique, if plodding, approach to the apocalypse. Its unevenness in nearly all respects still manages to produce an interesting film despite the apparent flaws. The highs here are enough to warrant an exploratory viewing for any fans of zombie or teen horror. For those seeking something more traditionally apocalyptic, this likely isn’t the school for you.
Overall Score? 6/10
