IFC and Shudder have officially acquired Adam MacDonald’s zombie horror film This Is Not a Test for release across the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand — with a 2026 theatrical rollout planned.

Based on Courtney Summers’ 2012 YA novel, the film follows Sloane and a small group of classmates who barricade themselves inside their high school after a zombie outbreak decimates their town. As the chaos outside grows louder, Sloane begins to confront her own will to survive — and discovers a new reason to fight back.

The movie stars Olivia Holt (Heart Eyes), Froy Gutierrez (The Strangers), Luke MacFarlane (Bros), Corteon Moore (From), Chloe Avakian (Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy), and Carson MacCormac (Clown in a Cornfield).

Director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry, Pyewacket) called the story “deeply emotional, gritty, and intense,” adding that Holt “brings Sloane to life with raw energy and vulnerability.”

Produced by Cybill Lui (The Silencing) and MacDonald under Anova Pictures, the film marks another bold entry in IFC and Shudder’s growing slate of character-driven horror.

This Is Not a Test will premiere October 17 at Brooklyn Horror Fest, followed by a screening at Toronto After Dark Film Festival on October 18. Meanwhile, Summers’ novel is set for a re-release on January 13 via Bindery Books.