Independent Film Company and Shudder officially released the highly anticipated film adaptation of Courtney Summers’ cult classic novel, This Is Not a Test, on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Directed by Adam MacDonald (Pyewacket), the apocalyptic horror-thriller follows Sloane Price and a small group of classmates as they barricade themselves inside Cortege High School to survive a sudden and violent zombie outbreak in their hometown.
Olivia Holt stars as Sloane, a teenager who, at the start of the apocalypse, has already lost her will to live due to a history of domestic abuse and the abandonment of her older sister, Lily (played by Joelle Farrow).
As the undead relentlessly pound on the school’s doors, Sloane is forced to witness the end of the world through the eyes of five peers, including Rhys (Froy Gutierrez), Cary (Corteon Moore), and twins Trace and Grace (Carson MacCormac and Chloe Avakian), who are desperately fighting for a future she no longer believes in.
Director Adam MacDonald, who also wrote the screenplay, emphasized that the film aims to preserve the raw, emotional edges of the 2012 source material. _“Courtney Summers' book captivated me with its raw energy,” _MacDonald stated.
_“We wanted to create a deeply emotional, gritty film that puts you on the edge of your seat and leaves you with hope at the end of the world.” _
Author Courtney Summers served as a consultant on the project, praising the cast's "electric performances" and the film's commitment to the book’s dark themes.
The release of the film coincides with a new "Definitive Edition" of the novel, published by Bindery Books on January 13, 2026.
This updated version includes the companion novella Please Remain Calm and revised text, marking the first time Summers has held the publishing rights to the story in over a decade. _“A book is a private conversation... a movie is social,” _Summers told CBC Books.
_ “It was a blast to see someone nearly leap out of their body at one specific part of the movie.”_
Critical reception for the film has been polarized. While some critics praised Olivia Holt’s "grounded and expressive" performance and the film’s refusal to sanitize the violence of the genre, others found the character development "thin" compared to the prose.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 45% approval rating, with the consensus noting that it may struggle to balance its "teen-coded survival story" with the technical demands of a high-stakes horror film.
This Is Not a Test is currently playing in select theaters across the United States and Canada and is available for streaming on Shudder.
The film’s soundtrack, featuring music by Lee Malia, has also been noted for its "punk-infused" energy that mirrors the frenetic chaos of the survival scenes.