A One Mann’s Movies review of “Undertone”. (2026, 3.5*, 15).
There’s seldom anything new under the movie sun and the concept of mind-control or possession triggered by a particular set of sounds has been done before: John Frankenheimer’s “The Manchurian Candidate” from 1962; “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” from 1969; David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome” from 1983 and “The Ring” (OK, that’s a videotape!) from 2002. But “Undertone” is smart in bringing the concept right up to date by using a live podcast. And, although set in a single location and with a very limited cast, it succeeded, in part, in creeping me out a bit.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Evy (Nina Kiri) is having a hard week. Her mother is dying in bed upstairs and she has just discovered that she is pregnant by her boyfriend (that she seems quite indifferent about). The only thing that provides relief for her at the moment is her popular paranormal podcast that she records with her London-based co-host Justin (the voice of Adam DiMarco). But when their latest episode starts to play a series of ten mysteriously emailed recordings of a couple – Mike and Jessa – Evy’s mental state starts to spiral.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Strong horror, violence, language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas, Jeff Yung.
Directed by: Ian Tuason.
Written by: Ian Tuason.
Running Time: 1h 34m.
Summary:
Positives:
- This is the directorial debut of writer/director Ian Tuason, and he really does a good job of ramping up the tension, with some slow languid pans across dark rooms where anything might be lurking (but often isn’t!).
- Serbian actress Nina Kiri does a good job in the lead role, having to literally carry every scene. I’m not familiar with her work, but she apparently played Alma in TV’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
- The film builds on creepy goings on: the comatose mother upstairs; nursery rhymes in reverse; mad crayoning; running water; flickering lights; statues moving by themselves – typical horror tropes, but quite well done. The basis for the horror in this case is the folk-tale of Abyzou: a female demon in near-Eastern and European folklore, notorious as the “taker of children” and blamed for miscarriages and infant mortality.
- The film doesn’t try too hard to shock with these creepy goings on, so when there are some jump scares they work quite effectively.
- Will you buy the ending? I’m not sure I totally did, but there was the intriguing concept there of an audio genie let out of a bottle and infecting all of the live-listeners across the world. This was un-nerving, but the movie failed to really double-down on that: we just hear, potentially, a single mother affected by the broadcast.
Negatives:
- There are some plot points that really don’t make sense: for one, Evy records her podcast with Justin at 3am local time (9am in the UK) and yet she happens to get a call from her doctor at that time! Bonkers!
- As is quite common with these type of slow-burn horror films, the ending is frenetic and confusing (mostly audio only), but some viewers may be frustrated by the slowness of the build-up.
- Am I the only one who heard nothing of the ‘hidden messages’ in the recordings!? (The backwards recordings sounded like “Paul is dead” to me! (60’s joke!)). I guess this stuff is quite subjective, a bit like a Rorschach-test for sound. (Which, as I googled, does actually exist ‘Rorschach Audio’ was a concept developed by researcher and artist Joe Banks, to test human responses to ambiguous sound patterns).
- As above, the movie could have delivered more of an apocalyptic conclusion than it did: we tend to focus back in on Evy for the film’s finale. I guess this is probably a restriction on the budget available as much as anything else.
Triggers.
There is a theme of miscarriage and infant mortality that might be triggering to some parents.
Summary Thoughts:
A neat little horror film that – like the Philippou Brother’s “Talk to Me” from 2022 – shows what an innovative idea and a low-budget (reportedly just $500,000) can deliver. The fact that A24 picked up on the potential of this one should tell you everything you need to know. Worth a watch.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6uDeBYDHu4.
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