Undertone
Review by Ryan Michael Painter
Undertone was on my short list for films to see at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, but the schedule gods and a sold-out Salt Lake City showing kept me from seeing it until now.
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Ryan’s review below. Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
93 minutes, Rated R
Written by Ian Tuason
Directed by Ian Tuason
Synopsis:
The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.
Evy is a young woman who has returned to her childhood home to care for her terminally ill mother. Living in a self-imposed exile, Evy’s primary connection to the outside world is through a paranormal podcast she co-hosts. When a mysterious email with ten audio clips arrives in the podcast’s inbox, Evy finds herself living in a waking nightmare.
Undertone takes place entirely in Evy’s childhood home with most of the action split between her mother’s bedroom and the dining room where she has set up her laptop and microphone. The bulk of the narrative is Evy recording a podcast with Justin, her co-host who lives in London.
Visually limited, Undertone relies heavily on actress Nina Kiri’s performance and the creativity of director of photography Graham Beasley. Both do a remarkable job, but neither can cover up the fact that the narrative feels like a short film that has been stretched into a feature-length narrative. The audio mix, as you might expect, is excellent.
The film is problematic in that it is essentially the recording of a single podcast episode that unrealistically takes numerous nights to capture what amounts to a 20-minute podcast. The podcast itself is something of a farce as Evy “the skeptic” and Justin “the believer” frequently break character. Editing this mess into a releasable podcast would take more effort than it is worth.
So, why didn’t writer/director Ian Tuason simply make the entire film the recording of the single episode? It wouldn’t work. The narrative requires Evy to step away from recording to give depth to her character and to explain her reaction to the mysterious audio recordings. Without these off-air moments, the story wouldn’t make sense.
I must confess, even with the off-air interludes, I didn’t understand the film or what it was trying to say. It was only later, after a conversation with a fellow citric, that I was made to understand the underlying aspect of “Catholic guilt” that serves as a bridge between Evy and the recordings.
Ultimately, I found Undertone to be more confounding than frightening. Those with religious guilt might find more in the narrative than I did.
Undertone stars Nina Kiri and Michèle Duquet with the vocal talents of Adam DiMarco, Keana Lyn Bastidas, and Jeff Yung and is in theaters March 13, 2026.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
Please don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW us on:
- Facebook (@vsmoviepodcast)
- X (@vsmoviepodcast)
- Instagram (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- Threads (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- YouTube (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our audio wherever you listen to podcasts(https://shows.acast.com/vsmoviepodcast)
And please, if you like what we do, consider helping us keep on entertaining you. You can use this handy link:
Or, you could check out the merch in Our Store:
Not only will you be helping us out if you pick up some merch, you get cool stuff to wear around (including the coveted WTFWT? logo!)
