Undertone Is 2026’s Scariest Film — and You are Not Prepared for It

When was the final time you had been scared whereas watching a horror film?

And I imply actually scared, the sort of freaked-out that stays with you lengthy after the film is over.

A24’s new horror film, Undertonedoes simply that. The Canadian movie, out now in theaters nationwide, achieves what few different movies within the style accomplish — it initiatives actual menace and suggests evil is lurking proper behind you.

It’s 2026’s scariest movie thus far and joins latest movies like Hereditary and Skinamark as superior examples of elevated horror. However how did first-time function movie director Ian Tuason make a scary film for the ages? And why is The SopranosHBO’s basic mob collection that’s positively not scary, a key affect?

What Is ‘Undertone’ About?

Undertone facilities round Evy (The Handmaid’s Story‘s Nina Kiri), a younger Canadian lady who produces a preferred supernatural podcast with distant co-host Justin (The White Lotus‘ Adam DiMarco) from her quiet Toronto dwelling. Along with her mom within the final levels of an unnamed terminal sickness upstairs, Evy needs nothing greater than to deal with her work moderately than take care of her mom’s inevitable dying. However when Justin finds 10 tapes that doc a younger couple’s haunting, Evy quickly realizes she will be able to’t keep away from the ghosts of her previous, current and unsure future.

If that plot description is a bit obscure, that’s on goal. A part of the pleasure of watching Undertone is letting Tuason slowly reveal what it’s all about — and what all of it means.

The Origins of ‘Undertone’: From Radio to a One-of-a-Type Horror Movie Expertise

“(Undertone) began as a radio play. I used to take heed to plenty of narrative podcasts like Mark Phillips’ Homecomingwhich was later tailored right into a Prime Video present starring Julia Roberts. I used to be huge into The Black Tapes (by Paul Mae and Terry Miles)too. I used to be writing the half with Justin and Evy investigating these hidden messages in these audio recordsdata when COVID hit, after which my mother and father obtained sick. I moved again into their dwelling (to care for them), which coincidentally is the place we shot Undertone.”

“The Exorcist actually freaked me out and traumatized me as a child as a result of it took one thing in your house that’s protected and weaponized it. What would occur if one thing comparable occurred to me once I was caring for my mother? That feeling of your private home security being weaponized towards you?”

“That was my reply to the subsequent query I had: What does Evy do in between recording her podcasts? Oh, she’s caring for her dying mother. Subsequent factor I do know, we’re filming.”

The Sounds of Terror

Undertone differs from most horror motion pictures in that it depends extra on sound to inform its story and generate its scares.

“The unique script had extra sound path than digital camera path,” Tuason admits. “I particularly wrote ‘the child cries to the rear proper’ within the script, and also you hear that. I associated the whole lot to the body. It’s simpler for the sound editor to know what I’m considering (and what I need).”

“I used to be closely concerned within the sound combine, so I simply began pointing in several instructions and suggested them to place a bang (at a key second within the story). I obtained that concept from my background in digital actuality. I made plenty of VR content material, which requires you to create a 3D soundscape. In VR, there isn’t a body, there’s only a house.”

Undertone is a horror film that performs with ambiguity. For the majority of the film, you’re undecided what’s taking place to Evy. Is she imagining issues? Or is she actually experiencing an precise haunting, one thing she’s at all times been skeptical of believing in?

“That was intentional,’ Tuason confesses. “I needed to take care of a sense (of uncertainty.) What’s taking place within the film? (What Evy goes via) might or might not be paranormal, and also you don’t know for positive as a result of a faucet might activate by itself, proper? That sound she hears upstairs could possibly be the wooden increasing within the floorboards. Even when the lights flip off, and Evy sees a determine at nighttime, it’s temporary, after which the lights flip again on, and the determine is gone. I couldn’t write one thing and put it in there until it could possibly be plausibly defined.”

How ‘Undertone’ Elevates Horror — and Drew Inspiration from ‘The Sopranos’

The result’s a scary film like no different. Eschewing blood, guts and any want for a transparent rationalization, Undertone marinates within the terror of ambiguity. You possibly can even name it “elevated horror,” despite the fact that that time period has some destructive connotations amongst style followers.

“I simply found that ‘elevated horror’ was an offensive time period to some folks. That stunned me. There’s no agreed-upon definition of what it really means. Some folks take it like ‘my horror is healthier than yours.’ And I can’t actually outline it both, however I do know it once I see it, like Hereditary or The Babadook. These motion pictures had been made by filmmakers who’re consultants of their craft.”

“Once I was writing UndertoneI used to be taking concepts from various things that weren’t even within the horror style. I took rather a lot from The Sopranos as a result of I appreciated sure pictures. I imply, a few of Tony’s (James Gandolfini) dream sequences are actually scary! In the end, I attempted to make the most effective film I might by making Undertone the scariest it could possibly be.”

Mission achieved, Ian.

Undertone is now enjoying in theaters.