This Is Not a Test is a 2025 apocalyptic horror-thriller from writer-director Adam MacDonald, starring Olivia Holt, Froy Gutierrez, Carson MacCormac, and Luke MacFarlane. Adapted from the 2012 eponymous novel by Courtney Summers, the film follows Sloane and a group of classmates as they barricade themselves in their high school to survive a suddenly apocalyptic hometown.
Set for release in the United States on February 20, 2026, by Independent Film Company and Shudder, it’s a tense, relentless story about survival, perspective, and the human instinct to keep fighting even when the world collapses around you.
The movie goes straight for the jugular with no drawn-out exposition, just immediate stakes and character-driven tension. MacDonald ramps up the immediacy from the page to the screen, letting the story reveal its characters through their choices and arcs rather than telling the audience everything up front.
To celebrate the film’s release this Friday, February 20th, MacDonald spoke with CinemaChords to share why Sloane’s character resonated with him so much on a personal level and how that shaped his approach to the story. He also teased the creative choices behind the adaptation: Whether the story’s urgency was in the book from the start, or if he dialled it up with a dash of cinematic licence to make it hit even harder on screen.
