This Is Not A Test opens with an interesting premise. We meet our protagonist, Sloane (Olivia Holt), on the day she’s ready to end her life. It just so happens this is also the day the zombie apocalypse breaks out, and as a result, the day Sloane was ready to end it all turns out to be the day she fights harder than ever to stay alive.
The story in both the movie and Courtney Summers’ original novel deals with some very dark themes about abuse and what it’s like to be a teenager in that kind of environment and headspace. But more importantly, the story also asks: what is worth fighting for? What is worth living for? For Sloane, the answer is each other. Watch our full interview with This Is Not A Test stars Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez right here.
The movie is incredibly stressful at times, and much of that is due to the immersive nature of the direction and the camera work. Much of it is also due to quiet, still moments that invite the audience to sit with the characters. “In a lot of ways you have to have the audience hold their breath,” Holt explained. “I think it's very rewarding when we do get those quiet moments that we really tried to lean into. It's a big risk to take, but I think it was necessary for a movie that's so character driven with the emotional and intense things these characters are going through. I think it's important that we have both of those worlds existing at the same time.”
People tend to like to label things as too “dark” or too “intense” for teenagers, but being a teenager is intense as hell and it's refreshing as hell to see a story that doesn't dilute the reality of that. It's an aspect that appealed to Holt, “The reason I really fell in love with Sloane and this particular story and the journey that she goes on is because you're just experiencing it with her,” she shared.
“There's no TV or film glamorization. You're really feeling the emotion that she is experiencing as someone who's so young, who has gone through a lot and doesn't know where to turn to, doesn't know who to turn to, doesn't know how to cope with any of the big loud emotions that she's feeling. It definitely drew me in, and I'm grateful that we get to be a part of a story where we get to showcase these heavy things.”
“It's part of what makes independent film so great,” Gutierrez added. “We didn't have a moment where we got a note from the network or the studio being like, ‘You need to tone this down or move this around here.' It was all in service of, how do we tell this story in the most accurate and honest way?
“It's so important whenever we're talking about things as heavy as this to talk about how… I don't think it's necessarily super realistic or super helpful to say, ‘Here's a nice little bow and it's healed and it's done.' It's kind of something you carry with you, and the load gets lighter and your life gets bigger and grows around it, but it doesn't necessarily disappear entirely. It is really funny to have adults talk about keeping things pure and spotless for teenagers.”
The authenticity of the story is something that appealed to both actors. “I remember being that age, and I remember what I needed, what I wanted from a film like this was someone to kind of just hold me and look at me and be like, ‘If you have a bad thought or if you're going through a hard thing, that's normal, and I've had that same thought but 10 times worse and you're okay, and nothing you say or feel is going to push me away or scare me.' It's just like, ‘This is normal. This is okay,'” Gutierrez said.
As for how they'd far in a real zombie apocalypse? The dup opted for katana swords as their weapon of choice (à la The Walking Dead‘s Michonne). Stylish and practical.
Now that we know Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez's zombie apocalypse plan and weapons of choice, be sure to catch them battle the undead on the big screen. This Is Not A Test is now in theaters.
