This is Not a Test, on Shudder

This will sort of be like The Breakfast Club for Sloane Price and some of her classmates, except instead of learning to understand each other’s differences, they will simply try to avoid getting bit by zombies. Admittedly, their high school is a good place to set up barricades, but the Gen Z’er’s definitely lack the survival instincts of Gen X’er’s in Adam MacDonald’s This is Not a Test, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Considering how relentlessly Price father abuses her and her older sister Lily, the zombies probably don’t look so bad to her. Seriously, why does every father have to be an abusive pedophile in horror movies? It is like Stphen King’s weird, deep-seated resentments were contagious. Indeed, this is the first example of how This is not a Test looks and feels an awful lot like an awful lot of other movies.

Regardless, one fateful morning, the zombie hordes descend on Price’s street like locusts. Amid the mayhem, she connects with cocky jock Cary Chen, the popular Casper twins (Trace and Grace, seriously), and Rhys Moreno, who always carried a torch for her. Somehow, they manage to reach and secure their high school—but probably not to a sufficiently safe degree. Of course, there is considerable friction in the group, as well as sexual tension, to undermine their concentration and team-work.

From there, it is easy as pie to predict how the dominos will fall. The small core ensemble is credible, but unremarkable, even including Olivia Holt, who so deftly navigated both the horror and the romantic-comedy of Heart Eyes. Only Corteon Moore stands out for the energy and confidence of his swaggering bravado as Chen.

For zombie movie addicts, this is another one. It is competent, but undistinguished. If that is enough for you, then by all means stream away. However, there is nothing that demands your attention. Simply not notable enough to recommend, This is Not a Test premieres on Shudder tomorrow (5/22).