Undertone

Film: Undertone

Year: 2025

Director: Ian Tuason

Writer: Ian Tuason

Starring: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco and Michèle Duquet

Review:

This was a film that I was intrigued by. Seeing that it was A24 piqued my interest. The bit of the trailer I saw made me leery of the character that we’d follow. It also was going to hinge on the sound design due to what the title was. I did catch this opening night at the Gateway Film Center. This is a Voyage through the FiVes watch that is also widely released for 2026.

Synopsis: the host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.

Now for this film, we are following Evy Babic (Nina Kiri). She is back home with her mother who is dying, she is played by Michèle Duquet. Evy does a podcast with a friend from high school who seems to live in London now. This means that Evy records around 2:30 AM due to the time difference. Her co-host is Justin (Adam DiMarco). We never see him, just hearing his voice. The name of their show is The Undertone. She is the resident skeptic where he wants to believe.

For their next show, Justin received a strange e-mail. It contains 10 audio clips. He listened to the first couple, which gets him mocked by Evy, due to him being uneasy. They decide to listen to these while recording to get their legitimate reactions. The recordings are of a couple, Jessa (Keana Bastidas) and Mike (Jeff Yung). Early into this, we hear songs and words spoken backwards. Justin thinks he hears things where Evy doesn’t believe. The recordings make her nervous and she needs a break so they decide to finish up a couple days later.

As Evy listens to the clips, her unease grows, tied to her personal struggles as the sole caregiver for her mother, who she feels she has disappointed due to her mother's strong religious beliefs. Evy makes an unexpected, perhaps unprepared-for, discovery. Her boyfriend, Darren (Ryan Turner), misses her and invites her to his party. She notices strange coincidences between the recordings and her life, exacerbated by a lack of sleep. Justin offers to help and scrap the episode, but Evy insists on finishing, even as she spirals deeper.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. The film's shallow story is repetitive. I’ll get into an early gripe here is that it gets a bit too repetitive. Evy and Justin record, but when we see the time, it is only for like 10 to 15 minutes before they need a break. The visible evidence and stated facts contradict the idea that they produce a weekly show, even with minimal editing. My solo shows, which I understand the effort behind, typically run 45 to 75 minutes. I wanted to clarify this point.

Now that I have that out of the way, let me dive into what I liked the most and that would be the sound design. It is a bold move to call your movie Undertone, because if you fail with this element that you are focusing on. I do find it to be effective in the theater. I love this idea that when Evy puts on her headphones, the outside sound is muffled. Hearing sounds that felt like they were coming from behind me is good. Due to her being afraid, I don’t know if I’d buy that she wouldn’t expose an ear. Old habits can die hard as an explanation as well.

Sticking with this, I do love how immersed Evy gets in the recordings. Most every character we hear is through the headphones, over the phone or Evy hearing things. I won’t spoil the latter due to a scare associated with it. I found this strategic since a major part of this story is that she is isolated in this house with her mother. She is closed off from the world, outside of recording with Justin over the phone or when calls are made. With the stress of her life and taking care of her mother, this is pushing her into a darker place.

Now let’s look at the haunting. I do like the troupe where the skeptic is the one who is faced with being haunted. In this case we start with the creepy clips. I don’t love that this film is making connections with things that aren’t necessarily there when there are ones that could have easily been used. Justin claims to hear things in the audio that I never noticed. It feels like he so badly wants it to be. I do think there is a missed opportunity to clean up the audio where we are making the connections more with Evy and it would make this stronger.

Something else is that I do like listening to recordings in reverse reveal hidden messages. This is an aspect that needs to be cleaned up. Its name is Abyzou which seems to be partially made up for this film but is borrowing from different demonic entities from religions of the past. I do love that. What is interesting with this are the correlations that emerge between Evy and Jessa. Plus, Evy’s mother was religious and Evy shunned this, which in theory could make her a target. I do like how things are alluded to and then manifest later.

Now this brings up the classic concept that I like to explore with movies like this. Is there really a haunting here or just our lead character descending into madness? You could make an argument for the latter. Since she is the only one who is able to move around. No one is there to verify it. I am inclined to believe that there is a haunting entity. I can’t disprove the other theory. It does seem that Abyzou is there to drive the person insane, which pushes them to do what they do. I do prefer this where we get enough for me to go with the supernatural route.

Other themes explore sound recording. Evy listens to old voicemails of her mother, finding the sound preserves the memory, despite the critique. Evy cleaning up audio clips mirrors her need to fix her current chaotic life. The clips used for the show could be seen as exploitation of trauma, using a presumed tragedy for entertainment. This highlights the power of sound: unlike sight, it is difficult to escape by "closing your ears."

Then just one more would be going back to this demon which is a 'baby-snatcher.' Jessa is pregnant. Evy's guilt over failing her mother suggests inherited trauma, reluctant motherhood, and defying religious norms.

Let’s then move away from this and go over to finish out filmmaking. I’ve already said my piece on sound design. The music they incorporated to help the atmosphere worked. I do think that the cinematography and framing are good. The use of mirrors is good, especially with the motif of listening to audio backwards. Something that was a missed opportunity is when they’re using the whole frame to not have more shadows or seeing something. I can forgive it slightly, since the demon still hadn’t gained power to manifest but there could be a bit more.

All that is left then would be the acting performances. This is truly more of a two person show. I thought that Kiri did well. She’s the focus and seeing her breakdown the longer things go on. I wouldn’t say she’s great, but fit what was needed. Duquet is the other person we see. For the most part, she’s asleep. DiMarco grew to annoy me. His insistence that he heard things that weren't there felt contrived. Bastidas, Yung, Turner and the rest of the cast worked as voices that we hear.

In conclusion, this is an effective, if shallow, A24 psychological horror film that relies heavily on its excellent sound design to drive the narrative and create a persistent sense of dread. While the plot suffers from repetition and the character dynamic between Evy and Justin feels contrived, the film successfully explores themes of isolation, inherited guilt, and the potent, invasive nature of sound. Despite missed opportunities to fully capitalize on the demonic lore and visual framing, the movie ultimately succeeds in presenting a compelling, ambiguity-tinged descent into madness, supported by a solid performance from Kiri. It's a worthy watch for those who appreciate atmospheric horror where the unsettling is heard before it is seen. Headphones may be necessary at home to replicate the theater experience.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10