{"id":407959,"date":"2026-02-04T19:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/407959\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:37:09","slug":"whistle-puts-a-pleasingly-freaky-spin-on-a-familiar-horror-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/407959\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Whistle\u2019 Puts a Pleasingly Freaky Spin on a Familiar Horror Tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, the new horror movie Whistle reads like a stack of tropes. Its heroine is the new girl in school with a troubled past. Its antagonist is a cursed object<\/a> that targets its victims one by one<\/a>, with a twist that knocks off Final Destination<\/a>. The third act revolves around the teens turning detective, trying to figure out how to save themselves from their (gruesome) fates.<\/p>\n

This is all familiar stuff, and not long after Whistle introduces its characters and settings, you\u2019ll have no problem predicting who will survive all the carnage to come. But when it\u2019s done well, even a retread can be enjoyable\u2014and fortunately, that\u2019s the case with Whistle.<\/p>\n

A lot of that goodwill is thanks to its cast, led by Dafne Keen (Deadpool & Wolverine) as Chrys, short for Chrysanthemum, a flower that happens to have a close association with death. Keen\u2019s expressive eyes, \u201890s Winona Ryder bangs, and \u201cdon\u2019t fuck with me\u201d energy make her an apt choice to play a guarded high-schooler who\u2019s moved from Chicago to a steel-mill town after a family tragedy.<\/p>\n

\"Whistle\u00a9 Courtesy of Michael Gibson\/an Independent Film Company and Shudder release <\/p>\n

She\u2019s got a built-in buddy in her cousin, Rel (Last Days\u2019 Sky Yang), but her first day barely gets started before she\u2019s targeted by a bullying jock (Jhaleil Swaby as Dean), and an altercation ensues that lands Chrys and her new acquaintances, plus Rel, in detention.<\/p>\n

This friend\/frenemy group also includes Ali Skovbye as Dean\u2019s girlfriend Grace, who Rel has a crush on, and Sophie N\u00e9lisse (Yellowjackets) as Ellie, soon exchanging meaningful glances with Chrys. These characters aren\u2019t breaking new ground, but the actors are appealing, and we don\u2019t get much chance to get caught in teenage social drama before the title artifact comes into play.<\/p>\n

After a harrowing opening sequence involving a fellow student who can\u2019t outrun the supernatural demise he\u2019s been anticipating, we know there\u2019s something awfully dangerous attached to the creepy tchotchke Chrys finds in her newly assigned locker. It piques the attention of Mr. Craven (Shaun of the Dead\u2018s Nick Frost)\u2014another character with a loaded moniker\u2014a teacher who thinks the skull-shaped antique, an \u201cAztec death whistle<\/a>\u201d according to his cursory internet search, could be valuable enough to help upgrade his lifestyle.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need to hear the whistle to know it\u2019s bad news. We also don\u2019t need any suspense around whether or not someone will blow it\u2014obviously, someone\u2019s going to pucker up before long\u2014but director Corin Hardy (The Nun) heaps it on anyway and keeps at it once the forces summoned by its ghastly shriek start accumulating a body count. There\u2019s a bit of It Follows in the anticipation of what turns out to be a relentless, seemingly unstoppable menace.<\/p>\n

\"Whistle\u00a9 Courtesy of Michael Gibson\/an Independent Film Company and Shudder release <\/p>\n

An expert in the macabre, played by Game of Thrones\u2019 Michelle Fairley, fills the de rigueur role of \u201coutsider who pops up a couple of times with just enough exposition.\u201d The script by Owen Egerton doesn\u2019t dig deep enough to involve an actual Mesoamerican historian\u2014it would be understandably tough for these small-town kids to find one on short notice\u2014but Fairley\u2019s character, at least, does mutter about \u201cstolen treasure from plundered people.\u201d Respect what you don\u2019t understand, the movie cautions; otherwise, agonizing consequences may await you.<\/p>\n

And Whistle is at its best when staging its numerous death scenes, bringing splattery creativity to a story that doesn\u2019t always feel fresh. Even when it does try something new, it doesn\u2019t always work; the budding romance between Chrys and Ellie is sweet, but a sinister youth preacher played by Wednesday\u2019s Percy Hynes White doesn\u2019t add much more than annoyance as a tacked-on extra antagonist.<\/p>\n

\"Whistle\u00a9 Courtesy of Michael Gibson\/an Independent Film Company and Shudder release <\/p>\n

Still, even after all that\u2014it wouldn\u2019t be fair to write Whistle off for feeling a bit too cookie-cutter at times. So many horror movies trace the outline of what\u2019s come before and end up disappointing. Whistle, at least, is a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Whistle hits theaters February 6. Make sure to stick around for the mid-credits scene.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On paper, the new horror movie Whistle reads like a stack of tropes. Its heroine is the new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[72983,96,2839,1637,56,54,55,72986],"class_list":{"0":"post-407959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-dafne-keen","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-nick-frost","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-whistle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}