Whistle

Whistle
Starring Dafne Keen, Sophie Nelisse, Sky Yang, Jhaleil Swaby
Directed by Corin Hardy

The horror cinematic landscape is littered with the corpses of films that center on a group of teenagers who are picked off one-by-one by a mysterious curse or entity, and most of them have fallen into obscurity. "Whistle" is going to be another one of those ill-fated films, a movie so formulaic, simplistic and by-the-books you'll forget it as you get into your car to drive home. That's not to say there's no redeeming qualities, but those qualities are very few and far between - ultimately, this is just another generic film with mediocre performances overlayed by unique if not overly CGI kills.

Chrys Willet (Dafne Keen) is attending a new school after tragic events in her hometown, and is living with her cousin Rel Taylor (Sky Yang), a loner nerd who pines for pretty girl Grace Browning (Ali Skovbye) who's dating basketball star Dean Jackson (Jhaleil Swaby). At her first day of school Chrys becomes obsessed with nice girl Ellie Gains (Sophie Nelisse), and the group get detention after Chrys kicks Dean after he insinuated she killed her father. Chrys comes across an ancient Aztec death whistle that, when blown, will bring about your death prematurely. Soon the teens begin dying and it's up to the surviving ones to find out how to break the curse before it gets them too.

Basically you've heard the story before, and even writing the synopsis it shows how generic it all is. Think "Final Destination" but with less logic and excitement. Think "The Ring" but less intelligence. Basically, think anything and expect less, and that's what "Whistle" is. Uninspired, lacking truly scary moments, but holding to a thinly interesting premise and some gnarly unique kills - which, sadly, doesn't save it from its own whistle of death.

It's unfortunate because the film has two strong lead actors at the helm. Dafne Keen is known for playing Laura/X-23 in both "Logan" and "Deadpool and Wolverine," and her star is only on the rise. Here, however, she takes a hit as the generic Chrys, while "Yellowjackets" standout Sophie Nelisse sleepwalks through her performance as Chrys's love interest Ellie. The remaining cast is as forgettable as they come, and unlike most teen movies, their connection doesn't make a lick of sense. Chrys and Rel are accosted by Dean because Chrys has the locker belonging to his friend who died from the whistle's blow, and Grace - Dean's girlfriend - is oddly sweet and intelligent, not something you'd expect from her caricature. Then there's Ellie, the sweet girl who just happens to be there, and all five get detention and suddenly become best friends. Again, like with everything in this movie, it doesn't make sense and comes off as to contrived. 

The effects are admirable and the kills are the highlight of the movie, and the overall theme of the Aztec whistle is quite intriguing. As explained by the generic older wise woman who knows everything about it, everyone is meant to die at a certain time, and death spends that time looking for them. The whistle hearkens death faster, and the one who hears the whistle dies as if they would later in life, but sooner (one character dies of old age but as a teen, another from cancer that would've taken effect decades down the line, etc.). It's interesting, but ultimately not pursued to its strength. 

Speaking of the generic wise woman, the whole movie is a generic slog, and I could use a different word than "generic" but I'm too lazy to look a synonym up, which basically ties into how lazy the script was for the movie. They do the investigations, they split up after saying they shouldn't, they die horrible ways, they come up with a convoluted plan to "cheat death" - all the above. If not for the kills...actually, not even the kills can save this movie from being one of the worst horror films of 2026 - and it's only February.

The Score: D-