This Irish-Canadian horror centers on a skull-shaped Aztec whistle and mixes Final Destination-style deaths with a surprisingly tender look at anxious adolescence. At first glance, it seems like the kind of film that might have hit production after the Philippou brothers’ cursed-artefact hit Talk to Me proved popular. But instead of suburban Australia, writer Owen Egerton and director Corin Hardy set their story in a gritty, autumnal North American steeltown. Artsy high-schooler Chrys (Dafne Keen) inherits the locker of a star basketball player, flambeed in a prologue, and discovers a skull-shaped Aztec whistle inscribed with either “summon the dead” or “summon your dead” There is some debate on the exact translation. Naturally, she blows it, and chaos ensues.

Horror With Heart

For a while, the horror element is quieter than in the Philippous’ relentless Talk to Me, but once the whistle is used, everyone’s worst fears about death become literal. Hardy delivers increasingly inventive and gruesome kills that evoke the dark humor of Final Destination You can’t help but feel for the boy racer who meets his end in a car crash inside his bedroom. Like the Philippous’ film, there is genuine sympathy for the insecure, troubled teens who feel worlds apart from the usual disposable jocks and prom queens. Egerton gives Chrys’s journey a quiet, observant tenderness, particularly her struggle to come out to classmate Ellie (Sophie Nélisse). Beneath the shadow of looming death, this is really a story about trying to live authentically.

Director Having Fun

Hardy, who had a more restrained outing with 2018’s The Nun, clearly has fun here. He peppers the film with in-jokes: objects, locations, even Nick Frost’s doomed teacher Mr. Craven nod to famous horror directors. He stretches a harvest-festival straw maze sequence into the delightfully surreal. While a loose subplot involving a preacher-slash-drug dealer (Percy Hynes White) feels undercooked, much of the film succeeds in being familiar without feeling derivative, offering moments that feel lifted from beloved horror films but with fresh twists.

A Perfect Weekend Watch

This is the kind of movie that works perfectly for a Friday or Saturday night watch. It balances inventive horror, tender coming-of-age moments, and just enough surreal fun to keep viewers engaged from start to finish.