Whistle is a 2025 supernatural horror film directed by Corin Hardy and written by Owen Egerton. The film features actors Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, Sky Yang, Jhaleil Swaby, Ali Skovbye, Percy Hynes White, Michelle Fairley, and Nick Frost. The story follows a group of students who discover an Aztec Death Whistle. They learn that the sound it makes can bring their future deaths to hunt them.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2025. It was released in the United States on February 6, 2026, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 13, 2026.

Plot

During a high school basketball game, star athlete Mason "Horse" Raymore sees strange images of a burned man before catching fire and dying suddenly. Months later, transfer student Chrys Willet finds a skull-shaped whistle in Mason's old locker. When provoked by Mason's former teammate Dean, Chrys, Dean, her cousin Rel, Dean's girlfriend Grace, and Ellie—a student with diabetes—are sent to detention by Mr. Craven.

After detention, Mr. Craven takes the whistle and blows it out of curiosity. Later, Rel sneaks back to steal it. Unaware of this, Mr. Craven—often seen smoking—is killed by a terrifying version of himself that crushes his lungs. The students in detention also blow the whistle, causing them to see visions of their own terrifying forms.

The next day, Mr. Craven's death is reported as extreme stage lung cancer, which surprises others because he showed no symptoms the day before. Chrys and Ellie learn from Mason's grandmother, Ivy, that the whistle is an Aztec death whistle marked with the phrase "summon your death." Anyone who hears it is followed by a vision of their own death and eventually killed by it. Despite warnings, Grace dies quickly after aging rapidly, and Dean is killed in a car-like accident. When Chrys, Ellie, and Rel visit Ivy on her deathbed, she explains the curse can be avoided by marking another person with their blood and transferring the curse to them before dying.

Rel abducts Noah, a violent youth pastor and drug dealer, at a church and tries to mark him with his blood. Chrys and Ellie stop him, refusing to harm someone else. Rel gives up but is later killed by his own terrifying form. Chrys and Ellie discover the curse can be avoided by briefly dying and being revived. Ellie uses medical supplies from her car to try to stop her own heart and revive herself and Chrys. Noah escapes but touches Ellie's blood, accidentally taking the curse and being killed by his own vision.

Three months later, Chrys and Ellie are together and believe the curse is over. However, new student Asha Nelson finds the whistle in her locker. In a mid-credits scene, Asha is called to play the school anthem on her violin at an assembly but instead pulls out the whistle. Chrys and Ellie shout for her to stop, but Asha blows the whistle, dooming everyone in the auditorium.

Production

Whistle was written by Owen Egerton, based on his short story, and directed by Corin Hardy. It is a film made together by Canada and Ireland. David Gross from No Trace Camping and Macdara Kelleher from Wild Atlantic Pictures produced the film. In October 2023, Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, Sky Yang, Percy Hynes White, and Nick Frost joined the cast.

Main filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, from November 15, 2023, to January 19, 2024. Scenes were filmed at Delta Secondary School, a house on Aberdeen Avenue, and the Rockton Fairgrounds.

Release

In October 2023, Black Bear Pictures managed sales at the American Film Market. In May 2025, Independent Film Company and Shudder bought the rights to distribute the film in the United States.

The film Whistle had its first showing at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2025, and was released in the United States on February 6, 2026. Black Bear Pictures released the film in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 13.

Reception

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 114 critics gave positive reviews, with an average score of 5.6 out of 10. The website's summary states: "Whistle uses its clever idea to create some memorable scary moments, but it could have been more original beyond its main idea." Metacritic, which calculates scores using a weighted average, gave the film a score of 55 out of 100 based on 9 critics, showing "mixed or average" reviews.