As someone who appreciates a great movie soundtrack, I am personally overjoyed that the people behind Whistle didn’t choose to include the ridiculous “Blow The Whistle” by Too $hort. Instead, we’re treated to a movie that has modern elements but feels very much like an old-school slasher/monster movie. If you want to know how to use nostalgia for your own gain as a filmmaker, without outright setting your movie in the ’80s or ’90s, this is a masterclass. Whistle comes from director Corin Hardy and writer Owen Egerton. The story is pretty familiar for those who have watched these kinds of movies before. There’s a group of misfit teenagers at a high school that stumble upon a cursed object, an Aztec Death Whistle that brings on Death and accelerates when it’s supposed to be your time.

Whistle follows Chrys (played by Dafne Keen), a teen who’s just moved to a new city to live with her cousin, Rel (played by Sky Yang). He’s a bit of a nerd and is obsessed with a comic book that’s kind of a cross between The Punisher and The Crow, called The Revenger. He’s friends with Grace (played by Ali Skovbye), who’s an immensely popular girl dating a star basketball player, Dean (Jhaleil Swaby), and he’s not the best guy. They’re also friends with Ellie (played by Sophie Nelisse), who is a future doctor and immediately takes an interest in Chrys. Those are the principal players of Whistle, and everything goes to hell when Chrys is assigned the locker of a student who previously died in a horribly mysterious way.

Oh, and the Aztec Death Whistle is in her locker. And someone decides to blow it, setting up this group for a dance with death.

A Similar Feel, But Doesn’t Outright Nostalgia Bait

The best thing about Whistle are the feelings that you get while watching it. This does not feel like a modern movie, and that’s in the best way possible. You’re treated to music and imagery from bands like The Divinyls, Iron Maiden, Tiger Army, and plenty of others. Chrys is dealing with the guilt and pain of losing her father, so she’s listening to the music that he left her. That’s about as good of a reason as any to include these songs in the film. And it thematically works! It all adds up to a movie that knows its influences, wears them on its sleeve, but never outright steals from them. There’s a lot of Final Destination and A Nightmare On Elm Street in this movie, but it brings in its own mythology and backstory for the ancient Aztec Whistle.

The various kills and set pieces of Whistle are really the highlight though. One kill, the centerpiece of of the film, is one that I’ve never seen before in a movie, and it definitely stuck with me after the film. The phrase slow-motion car crash can only do so much justice. The other kills are less bombastic but they do the job of the story. Each character sees how they’re going to die as Death chases after them, and they don’t pull any punches.

The biggest set piece of the film involves what amounts to a county fair mixed with Halloween Horror Nights and oh boy, was I exhilarated. There’s not enough stuff like this in movies, and they went all out to bring in that Halloween feeling.

There’s not a whole lot about Whistle that didn’t work for me. Some of the B plots could have used a bit more seasoning or some better context, including one with a youth pastor who deals drugs. The storyline is there, but it doesn’t feel as personal as it could, it only gets that way once he tries introducing drugs to Chrys.

Outside of that, this is tight, punchy, and flies by when you’re watching it.

I Want To Rewatch It Already

Whistle certainly feels like it’s going to be a comfort movie for audiences out there. The soundtrack, the color palette, the excellent ensemble cast, and a snappy script make for hopefully an endlessly rewatchable movie. The cast gels together right from the get-go. The characters feel lived in, we’ve all been that nerd in high school who has a crush on the popular girl, or the outcast who just went into a new social situation. We might not be immediately being chased by death because we heard or blew an ancient Aztec Death Whistle, but Whistle makes it effortless to watch that happening to a group of high schoolers.

Whistle is in theaters on February 6th, 2026.

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