Whistle brings us an emo Dafne Keen (Deadpool And Wolverine IMAX 3D) as high school student Chrys Willet, named after the chrysanthemum, in a film that’s a bit like Smile and Smile 2, in that a whistle can pass on the curse rather than a smile, hence the… erm… title.
So, for the first individual we come across at the school, nicknamed ‘Horse’ (albeit not saying why), this basketball player encounters what looks like a burning man, then soon finds it’s quite catching, since if a particular urn randomly appears in your locker, for whoever finds out, along the pipe inside… and then blows it, that will ensure death won’t be far behind.
Even smashing it won’t sort out the issue, because it’s a horror film, so it’ll soon come back in one piece. And it doesn’t help when there’s Pixan writing on the pipe which translates as “Summon the dead“. And no-one can help you, because only the near-dead person can see what’s kiling them.
Hollywood still can’t cast any emo women in films as straight, as we learn Chrys fancies Ellie (Sophie Nélisse, who’s in the brilliant The Kid Detective, which frequently turns up on Channel 4 and Film 4), before it brings in a usual tropes of including a creepy old woman in the characters, plus a school festival (Harvest, in this case) having a carnival and a mysterious maze where derring do will happen.
Plus, Nick Frost plays Nick Frost as Chrys’ teacher, Mr. Craven.
However, like the Final Destination movies, can you avoid death by passing it on to someone else? Either way, when I saw an abandoned factory on Verhoeven Street… is it named after Total Recall and Basic Instinct director Paul Verhoeven?
NOTE: There is both a mid-credits scene and something post-credits, as per the video below.
Whistle is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 100 minutes
Release date: February 13th 2026
Studio: Black Bear
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Corin Hardy
Producers: Whitney Brown, David Gross, Macdara Kelleher
Screenplay: Owen Egerton
Music: Doomphonic
Cast:
Chrys Willet: Dafne Keen
Ellie Gains: Sophie Nélisse
Rel Taylor: Sky Yang
Dean Jackson: Jhaleil Swaby
Grace Browning: Ali Skovbye
Noah Haggerty: Percy Hynes White
Tanner Church: Mika Amonsen
Ivy Raymore: Michelle Fairley
Mason ‘Horse’ Raymore: Stephen Kalyn
Mr. Craven: Nick Frost
Clayton Jackson: Conrad Coates
Maya Jackson: Lanette Ware
Principal Flynn: Christine Sahely
Esme Raymore: Dina Pino
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.