The Thinning

In a near-future United States, the government has imposed a nationwide school exam to address overpopulation, and students who score lowest are removed from the population. Two high-schoolers, Blake Redding and Laina Michaels, begin looking into the exam and come to suspect that its results are not what they appear, and that something larger is being concealed behind the annual testing.

The Thinning is a 2016 American drama, horror and thriller directed by Michael J. Gallagher, who wrote the screenplay with Steve Greene and also produced alongside Michael Wormser and Jana Gallagher. It is the second feature in his directing filmography, following Smiley in 2012 and preceding The Thinning: New World Order in 2018 and The Leader in 2026. Logan Paul plays Blake Redding and Peyton List plays Laina Michaels, with Lia Marie Johnson, Calum Worthy, Ryan Whitney Newman and Michael Traynor among a credited cast of 38. It runs 84 minutes and was produced by Legendary Pictures, Cinemand, Legendary Digital Media and YouTube Red, and it was released on 12 October 2016.

On TMDB the film holds a rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 389 votes, indicating a modest but not enthusiastic response from those who have rated it.