Genre films are defined by their tropes. What’s a noir thriller without a hardscrabble detective who’s seen it all? What’s a sci-fi adventure without speeding spaceships and a universe-conquering villain? Horror films are no different: gore, jump scares, final girls, supernatural forces, monsters, masked murderers and more are the reasons we want to watch scary movies in the dark. The new film Whistle shows how filmmakers can celebrate a genre and still have something unique to say between the stabs and the screams.
Chrysanthemum “Chrys” Willet (Dafne Keen) moves in with her cousin Rel (Sky Yang), transferring to a new high school and inheriting a locker that once belonged to star athlete Mason. On her first day, Chrys clashes with Dean (Jhaleil Swaby), Mason’s grieving teammate, leading to detention alongside Dean’s girlfriend Grace (Ali Skovbye) and her friend Ellie (Sophie Nélisse).
Inside her locker, Chrys discovers an ancient urn containing a skull-shaped whistle carved from what appears to be bone. Their teacher Mr. Craven (Nick Frost) identifies carved inscriptions on the whistle that translate roughly to “summon the dead.” Later that evening, curiosity gets the better of the group when Grace blows the whistle at a party. The sound it emits is painful and otherworldly, rattling everyone who hears it.
This setup will feel familiar to horror fans. Whistle is directed by Corin Hardy (The Nun), and Owen Egerton’s (Blood Fest) screenplay is an adaptation of his own short story, “Untimely.” Together the pair deliver a supernatural horror film about cursed objects and teenage mortality. Whistle feels like a mashup of Talk to Me and the Final Destination franchise — an ancient, esoteric object puts teens in touch with the afterlife and they know they are being hunted by death before each succumbs to their own frightening fate. It’s not a particularly original premise, but the filmmakers still have fun running their teens through this grim gauntlet.
Soon after hearing the whistle, the teens are shaken by strange visions and supernatural stalkings. The students seek answers from Mason’s terminally ill grandmother Ivy (Michelle Fairley), a collector of occult artifacts from around the world. She reveals that the object is an Olmec death whistle, and the inscription actually reads “summon your death.” Anyone who hears the whistle will be hunted by a manifestation of their own future demise, experiencing their unique death decades ahead of schedule.
Hardy and cinematographer Björn Charpentier shot Whistle in winter 2024 in Hamilton, Ontario. The picture takes place in stuffy interiors under slate-gray skies, and every frame looks like it’s suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder — in the best (worst) way. Through Charpentier’s lens, locker rooms are swallowed in shadows, nighttime school hallways are transformed into the corridors of a haunted house, and the every car feels like a crypt closing in around the terrified teens. Whistle’s premise feels like a retread, but the immersive atmosphere sells every scare even when viewers know they’re coming.
The cast and dialogue also help to make Whistle enjoyable despite its familiar tropes. All actors are believable and they talk to each other like actual young people instead of the cliché archetypes we’ve come to expect from teen horror flicks. Whistle includes mean girls, jocks, new kids, and geeks, but admirably humanizes them before killing them off. Like the film’s atmosphere, these deeper-than-expected characterizations help viewers overlook Whistle’s derivative premise.
As friends begin meeting horrific ends, Chrys and Ellie race to reverse the curse before it claims them all, but local youth pastor Noah (Percy Hynes White) complicates their investigation with his own dangerous agenda. Whistle’s subplots about exploitation and addiction help keep the movie grounded in reality. Along with a refreshingly believable romantic connection, these storylines are another way Hardy and Egerton make their movie more than the sum of its predictable parts.
Whistle is currently in theaters.
Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.