School’s Out Forever: This Is Not a Test Unleashes a Relentless New Zombie Nightmare

Adam MacDonald brings Courtney Summers’ YA zombie classic to life as teens fight fast-moving undead inside a sealed high school. (IFC / Shudder)

Here at Horror Movies Uncut, one of the manga titles that has stuck with us over the years is High School of the Dead—not just for its gore or excess, but for how it reframed the zombie apocalypse through the eyes of teenagers. It treated young people not as disposable victims or romantic side plots, but as a last line of survival. Teens forced to think, fight, fracture, and grow up fast while the dead closed in. That perspective matters, and it’s one that zombie cinema rarely gets right.

That’s why, long before cameras rolled, This Is Not a Test, the New York Times bestselling novel by Courtney Summers, felt like a natural fit for the screen. The DNA was already there: claustrophobia, emotional rot, and a survival story rooted less in heroics and more in trauma. This wasn’t just about zombies—it was about what happens when kids who are barely holding themselves together are asked to hold the line for everyone else.

Now, with the film officially developed and released by IFC Films and Shudder, and written and directed by Adam MacDonald, that promise feels very real. MacDonald is a filmmaker HMU has followed closely for years—Backcountry, Pyewacket, and Out Come the Wolves all showcase his ability to turn isolation into a weapon. Giving him a zombie story—especially one this psychologically loaded—feels like the right move at the right time.

Let’s be honest: outside of the impending return of the 28 Days Later universe, big-screen zombies have been in a lull. Oversaturated, undercooked, or stripped of tension. This Is Not a Test looks like a course correction.

The newly released trailer confirms it. The setup is simple and effective: Sloane and a small group of classmates barricade themselves inside their high school as their town collapses into chaos. But what unfolds isn’t just a siege—it’s an emotional pressure cooker. These are fast, feral, destructive undead, the kind that don’t give you time to plan or mourn. Every decision feels terminal. Every hallway feels unsafe.

The young cast carries that weight well, including Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, Luke Macfarlane, Corteon Moore, Chloe Avakian, and Carson MacCormac. What stands out isn’t just the performances, but the tone—this doesn’t feel like teens “playing apocalypse.” It feels like kids realizing, in real time, that survival might cost them the parts of themselves they were already struggling to keep.

That’s the hook. Not just who lives or dies—but what it means to choose life when you weren’t sure you wanted it in the first place.

With This Is Not a Test hitting theaters on February 20, this is shaping up to be one of the most talked-about horror releases of 2026. Not because it reinvents zombies—but because it remembers why they were terrifying to begin with.