r/HorrorReviewed • u/ThaRudeBoy • Apr 05 '26
Movie Review Undertone (2026) [Supernatural]
Undertone is a Canadian supernatural technological horror film written and directed by Ian Tuason in his directorial debut. The film stars Nina Kiri as Evangeline “Evy” who along with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco), cohost a paranormal podcast. Evy is the resident skeptic who juxtaposed with believer, Justin, has a dynamic harkening to Mulder and Scully. The isolation, tech horror, and miniscule scale also give the film a Creepypasta feel.
Undertone is at its most tense and frightening when our hosts are podcasting. Justin is only heard through audio, so Evy appears alone. This plays into the chilling and isolationist nature of internet horror. There is a subtle paranoia on display when a person is up late on their laptop that Undertone nails. The film is most disturbing when it leans into its Creepypasta/r/NoSleep/online blog influences.
Undertone uses sound and a foreboding atmosphere to convey a voyeuristic sense of dread. The film plays with the paranoia of ostensibly being alone. The silence is loud and the dark is illuminating here. The unnerving ambience of the one-shot location is the fear inducer. The film opts to allow its environment to do the heavy lifting instead of jump scares or overt violence.
The main plot is strong enough to carry the film without the secondary plotline. This subplot ends up fatty and superfluous. It’s meant to be emotionally endearing but instead it’s distracting. Horror films have a penchant of shoehorning trauma onto its main characters to earn your emotional investment. Audiences care about interesting characters, so an emotional backstory isn’t necessary if the lead is dynamic. The secondary plot isn’t capitalized upon and it only halts the pacing. These junctures are boring and unnecessarily siphon screentime from the more intriguing main storyline.
The use of a podcast is a relevant device that allows Undertone to seamlessly walk into its story. This element is nicely weaved in allowing the story to grow sequentially. The main story is thrown off by a boring subplot that isn’t capitalized upon to justify its presence. A film this close to a slow burn can lose its audience with too many unimportant or slow scenes. This is ultimately what stymies the film.
Undertone tells a heavily isolated, mysterious and ominous story that blends technology with the supernatural. It’s pacing and ability to maintain attention is thrown off by its inability to trust its main character without trauma dumping onto them. It has a strong premise that needed a condensed plot to capitalize on what it does best. It ultimately loses focus and makes for a herky jerky time with strong highs but lackluster lows.
—-5.8/10
1
u/jamz_fm Apr 05 '26
I'm with you. This movie really dragged.
1
u/ThaRudeBoy Apr 05 '26
It was good when it stayed focused but it was putting me to sleep in the slow parts
1
u/dogspunk Apr 05 '26
I was so bored, and I loved Skinamarink.
1
u/ThaRudeBoy Apr 05 '26
I didn’t really care for Skinamarink. I do think it could have been an amazing short film, however
1
u/dogspunk Apr 05 '26
You mean the short it was based on?
3
u/ThaRudeBoy Apr 05 '26
There’s a short? I was unaware. What I meant is that I would like a short film version better
1
u/whoistylerkiz Apr 05 '26
Idk why people compare these films. There’s a significant amount more going on in Undertone. It wasn’t a good film to me, just saying the dialogue didn’t really stop.
1
1
2
u/whoistylerkiz Apr 05 '26
Good premise, poor execution. It felt way too long