Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Ian Tuason
Starring: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Kris Holden-Ried, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidasand, Sarah Beaudin, Seled Calderon
Writer/director Ian Tuason's debut Undertone is the latest movie to feature a single onscreen protagonist interacting with a supporting cast via audio communication devices. Well, technically there is another character seen on screen, but they remain silent and bedridden. The setup is almost identical to the underseen 2023 Australian horror Monolith, which unfortunately went under the radar as it didn't have the backing of an A24 level distributor. Both movies feature a female podcaster sequestered in their parents' home, and both plots are kicked off when said podcaster receives a mysterious email.
Here, Nina Kiri plays Evy, who has returned to her childhood home to look after her terminally ill and comatose mother (Michèle Duquet in a role that requires barely any more movement than Kevin Costner in The Big Chill). As if that wasn't enough cause for stress, Evy has learned that she is six weeks pregnant, and she doesn't appear to be in the most stable relationship with her immature boyfriend (Ryan Turner). To keep her mind off things, Evy is happy to carry on with her podcast, which she co-hosts with Justin (Adam DiMarco), who resides on the other side of the country. The pair run a paranormal podcast and enjoy a Mulder and Scully dynamic - Evy is the sceptic while Justin keeps an open mind.
When Justin sends Evy 10 audio files he received in an email, they decide to listen to them one by one while recording their podcast. It turns out to be killer content, as the files appear to document the descent into madness of a pregnant couple. Each new file is slightly more disturbing than the last, featuring messages coded in children's nursery rhymes played in reverse and references to mythological demons. The usually dismissive Evy carries on her disbelieving front for the podcast, but there is something about the audio files that gets under her skin.
Like director Matt Vesely did so well with Monolith, Tuason swerves accusations that he has simply filmed a radio drama by cleverly using negative space to keep us on edge. The overt creepiness comes from the audio footage but Tuason ensures we are unnerved by how he uses his location, which is actually his own childhood home. While Evy listens to the recordings at her kitchen table the camera will begin to pan around the room like a cat that has sensed an unseen mouse. Evy is often framed at the far edge of the screen, leaving us unsettled as we expect something to appear from the shadows. Both Monolith and Undertone do a great job of creating the impression that some sort of evil has manifested itself in their protagonists' homes.
But where the two films diverge is in how their narratives unspool. With each new layer it peeled back, Monolith took us into uncharted territory. Here, each revelation just adds another well-worn horror cliché. The central idea of audio unleashing a demon is straight out of Evil Dead, and at one point Tuason even mimics that film's famous "demon POV" swooping camerawork, which jars with the steady tone he has established with his locked down camera. The concept of a female protagonist who fears some evil force is after her unborn baby has been done to death at this point. Tuason is overly reliant on Catholic iconography and nursery rhymes as a source of creepiness. By the climax any slow burn creeping dread has been tossed aside in favour of crash bang wallop theatrics, and while there is a definitive conclusion it all feels a little anti-climactic. It may carry the A24 logo, but aside from some smart camera work Undertone does little to distinguish itself from the scores of low budget horror movies that head straight to streaming every year.
Undertone is in UK/ROI cinemas from April 10th.
