"Whistle" Blends Teen Drama with Aztec Mythology

Director Corin Hardy delivers an engaging concept in his third directorial effort, “Whistle,” produced by Independent Film Company. Owen Egerton pens the screenplay for the film. Following the death of her father, recovering addict Chrys Willet (Dafne Keen) moves to a small town to live with her cousin, Rel (Sky Yang).

On her first day of school, jock and bully Dean (Jhaleil Swaby) tries to unsettle Chrys after she finds a mysterious object. However, she stands up for herself. During the commotion, history teacher Mr. Craven (Nick Frost) assumes the worst and assigns Chrys, Dean, and Dean’s girlfriend, Grace (Ali Skovbye), along with aspiring doctor Ellie (Sophie Nélisse) and Rel, to detention.

While in detention, the misfits learn that the object is an ancient Aztec Death Whistle cursed by the gods. Naturally, curiosity gets the best of them, and they discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down.

I have to admit that I went into “Whistle” blind and had no idea what it was actually about. The film opens with a basketball player encountering an apparition that hunts him down. Of course, he meets a grisly end, leading me to think the movie would follow a “The Monkey’s Paw” route, where wishes come with deadly consequences.

To my surprise, the film aligns more with the “Final Destination” series. That’s the leading hook, as we wait to see the characters get picked off one by one in gruesome manners. The acting doesn’t demand much from the cast, and the teen characters generally fall into high school film tropes.

One of the stronger elements is a lesbian love story between two characters that comes across as natural. It was also great to see Dafne Keen transition to more mature roles after impressing me in the MCU. Furthermore, while Nick Frost essentially has a glorified cameo, it’s always a pleasure to see him on screen.

“Whistle” is a film I doubt I’ll ever revisit, but as a one-time watch, it provides enough entertainment for horror fans.

Final Grade: B-

“Whistle” is in theaters now.