Editor’s Be aware: This evaluate was initially revealed through the 2026 Sundance Movie Competition. A24 opens “Undertone” in theaters Friday, March 13.
Anybody in search of a solution to make their mark in horror filmmaking ought to see “Undertone.” Ian Tuason’s directorial debut is an instance of the creativity that helps the indie horror house keep its fame as the final word incubator for thrilling new voices — and proof {that a} intelligent idea executed properly can typically beat out films with a lot larger budgets.
The movie, which follows the co-host of an occult-themed podcast who will get greater than she bargained for when she begins listening to a sequence of mysterious recordings, takes place completely in a single location. We solely see a handful of actors (one primary character solely seems via voice recordings), and over half the movie consists of a protagonist hunched over a laptop computer sifting via audio information.
It’s a film that nearly anybody may have assembled the assets to make. And it achieved the final word indie movie fairy story ending, promoting to A24 after its Fantasia premiere and happening to display at Sundance earlier than hitting theaters in March. The movie’s success is a testomony to Tuason’s creativity and the horror world’s willingness to embrace concepts that come from anyplace.
If all of that seems like an try to delay saying something concerning the substance of the movie, that’s as a result of it’s. Sadly, “Undertone” is way extra fascinating as a phenomenon than an precise film. Tuason and firm need to be counseled for telling a story movie on such a small scale, however the completed product fails to ship a conclusion that’s scary sufficient to justify its torpid, slow-burn format.
Throughout the movie, “The Undertone” is a podcast hosted by occult believer Justin (Adam DiMarco) and skeptic Evy (Nina Kiri). Every episode sees them debating a brand new creepy recording despatched to them by a viewer, with Evy making an attempt her greatest to debunk Justin’s paranoia and Justin making an attempt to persuade her that unusual issues are lurking throughout us. There’s actually an viewers for such a product, however it’s arduous to focus an excessive amount of on audio leisure whereas making an attempt to take care of a dying father or mother. Evy’s mom (Michèle Duquet) is bedridden, nonverbal, and her daughter’s solely human companionship. And whereas it typically seems like nothing is going on behind her eyes, the previous lady sometimes reveals moments of terrifying lucidity.
Evy is already navigating an unsustainable stage of loneliness and exhaustion when she and Justin embark on a brand new 10-part sequence of “The Undertone” episodes. All of it begins as a dialogue of hidden messages allegedly discovered enjoying nursery rhymes backwards, solely to provide solution to one thing much more sinister. The hosts are despatched a sequence of 10 recordings that will or could not include secret messages a few legendary supply of evil simply ready to pounce.
It’s arduous to overstate how delicate these messages are, and Evy’s investigation largely consists of slowing down and reversing varied bursts of static with the hope of discovering a number of cryptic syllables which may assist her make sense of no matter syllables she finds within the subsequent recording. The movie deserves an infinite quantity of credit score for its sound design, which permits Tuason to show recordings that may be incomprehensible in much less succesful arms into one thing that retains audiences on the sting of their seats for 2 thirds of a film.
“Undertone” finally ends up being a sufferer of its personal competence, because the early scenes of Evy’s investigation are shot so properly that you just’re sure it’s constructing in direction of one thing large enough to make you overlook that you just simply spent 75 minutes watching a podcast host undergo post-production. The climax sadly doesn’t ship something on that stage, leaving you with the sense that you just’d be higher off listening to a podcast abstract of those recordings than watching them your self.
“Undertone” appears destined to reside on as a movie faculty case research, a lesson to bold younger artists that marketable concepts might be discovered at any funds stage. Its legacy as an precise movie is way much less clear. Besides, the creativity with which Tuason approached it is sufficient to depart this critic excited to see what he does subsequent.
Grade: C+
“Undertone” premiered on the 2025 Fantasia Worldwide Movie Competition earlier than screening on the 2026 Sundance Movie Competition. A24 will launch it in theaters on Friday, March 13.
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