Whistle has a unique edge that might make it a better version of a recent well-received Stephen King adaptation. Directed by Corin Hardy, Whistle focuses on a group of teenagers who find themselves at the mercy of a mysterious Aztec artifact that seems to be causing their eventual deaths to hunt them down and happen prematurely. The sudden bursts of violence and horror in Whistle‘s teaser give the film a tenor similar to The Monkey, which makes sense given that John Friedberg was Executive Producer on both.

However, there’s a clear focus on character interactions baked into the film’s premise, as it focuses on a group of teenagers dealing with the danger instead of rooting the story almost entirely around a man, his brother, and his son. This invites more opportunities for character interplay and interactions, including more emotionally driven subplots. This is actually the element of Whistle I’m most excited about, especially after stars Dafne Keen and Sophie Nélisse teased the undercurrent of the movie at San Diego Comic-Con.

Whistle Looks Like The Monkey With A тιԍнтer Plot

Whistle Seems To Have A Clearer Character Focus

Whistle looks functionally similar to Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, but with a romantic story for Dafne Keen’s character that might give it a more engrossing story. The teaser for Whistle doesn’t reveal too much about the plot, highlighting several teens contending with a mysterious object that causes unexpected and brutal deaths. However, there’s also romance in the air.

During the Collider Ladies’ Night panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Dafne Keen and Sophie Nélisse teased a romantic arc for their Whistle characters. When asked to tease the story of Whistle during the panel, Nélisse explained that the experience of trying to survive the whistle leads to Keen and Nélisse’s characters falling in love.

This gives Whistle a clear emotional plotline to focus on, giving it a strong skeleton to fall back on when it’s not indulging in gruesome death scenes. This тιԍнтer focus on a group of teenagers instead of the more sprawling approach to Hal Shelburn’s life in The Monkey teases a more straightforward storyline and emotional arc.

This could be a real boon for Whistle, which could otherwise risk losing tension by going too big or grim. The Monkey was a blast, but (partly by design) never really feels too grounded. By keeping the focus on a more realistic setting and with an emotional throughline for the characters, Whistle could improve on the elements that made The Monkey so good.

Whistle’s Focus On Teenage Romance Could Be What The Monkey Was Missing

The Monkey Is A Blast, But Whistle Could Be More Emotionally Resonant

I really enjoyed The Monkey, much in the same way I tend to have fun with the Final Destination movies. My favorite beats of The Monkey were the ones that took the premise to a darkly comedic extreme, whether that be a man being killed by a hornet’s nest or a bus full of cheerleaders being decapitated.

However, I was never fully engrossed in the main plot. Theo James is doing good work in the dual roles of Hal and Bill, but the conflict between them is fairly one-note and doesn’t leave much room for depth. Hal’s relationship with his son theoretically could be the emotional core of the film, but it also felt underdeveloped.

Whistle seems to be trying to have it both ways, establishing a clear emotional arc for the main characters while also indulging in some horrifying and gruesome demises. Leaning into the romance raises the emotional stakes even higher.

Keen and Nélisse’s characters aren’t just trying to keep themselves alive, they’re also going to be falling in love — which raises the threat that the whistle may pose to their loved ones. This could make the heroes more desperate, an always interesting angle for horror movies to embrace.

The teaser for Whistle is exciting for plenty of reasons, not the least of which is the haunting imagery and strong cast. I’m more excited for it now after hearing Keen and Nélisse discuss their parts, though, because I think that emotional core will make Whistle a more compelling watch.