'Whistle' heads to theatres with an MCU star at the center of the new horror film
Over the past few months, the stars have been aligning really well for actress Dafne Keen. She recently reprised her character of Laura or X-23 in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' and also went on to enter the 'Star Wars' franchise by appearing in 'The Acolyte', portraying the character of Jedi Padawan (Jecki Lon). Fans of the actress have praised her performance in three seasons of the fantasy-based HBO show 'His Dark Materials'. Owing to this, Keen's upcoming horror film 'Whistle', set to hit theatres in February 2026, according to ScreenRant, has a lot of audience expectations to fulfil.
Ever since its premiere at this year's Fantastic Fest, 'Whistle' has been steadily building momentum, building up to its impending release. The film has seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and five out of them happen to be 'Fresh'. The horror film is directed by Corin Hardy, who directed the 2018 film 'The Nun', and also stars 'Yellowjackets' star Sophie Nélisse. The plot follows a group of teenage high school students who happen to discover an Aztec death whistle and accidentally end up summoning their own deaths.
The other members of the cast include 'Wednesday' star Percy Hynes White, 'Shaun of the Dead' alum Nick Frost, and Sky Yang of 'Rebel Moon' fame. The Mary Sue described Hardy's fascination with the cult films from the '80s, such as 'The Breakfast Club' and 'The Lost Boys'. Indeed, 'Whistle' combines the best of both these films, with the story beginning with Keen's character Chris moving in with her cousin Ralph, played by Yang. Being an outsider, Chris struggles at times to be accepted by the people of the small town in general and the other students at her high school in particular.
The school's popular basketball player soon found himself in flames while taking a shower after a game, and Chris finally came to know about the Aztec death whistle, which emits a shrill sound upon being blown and eventually summons the person's death. Both Keen and Nélisse were in attendance at the 2025 edition of the San Diego Comic Con promoting the upcoming movie, and they spoke at length with Collider's Perri Nemiroff. During the course of their conversation, the actresses opened up at length about their experience of working on 'Whistle', and even shared interesting trivia from their experience on the set. Keen revealed that they didn't happen to blow on the Aztec death whistle prop for once in the three months that production on the film lasted.
On the other hand, Nélisse revealed a scary incident that took place during the filming, "I've always been scared to sleep on my own. It's always been a thing. But the very first night I got there, I swear to god, I got in really quickly, and then I left to go to the grocery shop, and I came back, and the sheets on my bed had been moved. I do not make this up; they had been moved." 'Whistle' arrives in theatres in February 2026.
