Undertone review – hits only bum notes

There’s an argument to be made that audio is consistently underutilised in cinema – despite the advent of Dolby Atmos, few filmmakers seem to truly embrace the possibilities offered by a dark room and surround sound. To his credit, filmmaker Ian Tuason has at least taken this in consideration with his feature debut Undertone, which fittingly focuses on a podcast host who is plagued by disturbing signs of an unwanted visitor. The film’s soundscape (designed by David Gertsman) offers a symphony of unsettling noises and breathing ASMR dialogue in keeping with the central character’s pet project. It’s a shame the film that exists around this technical experiment oscillates between ludicrous and tedious, undermining any scares that might be generated through the wonder of creative foley and effective mixing.

Evangeline ​‘Evi’ Babic (Nina Kiri) divides her time between caring for her comatose mother and recording her supernatural podcast remotely with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco, voice only). She’s understandably morose about her mother’s condition and strongly implied to be a relapsed alcoholic, isolated by her caring responsibilities and experiencing friction with her boyfriend. As Evi is the only role with substantial screen time (Michèle Duquet appears as Mama, mainly lying down and breathing heavily) it’s up to Kiri to shoulder the weight of the entire film. This is a lot to ask of a performer, and unfortunately Kiri lacks the ability to pull off such a demanding role, flat and unconvincing in her delivery and barely believable when everything starts to go south. 

But Kiri is set up for failure by Tuason’s script, which draws straight from the most uninspired corners of Creepypasta forums with its ​“nursery rhymes played backwards contain demonic messages” premise. This is the sort of premise which might frighten tweens at sleepovers but plays only as comedic in an otherwise po-faced horror; it’s hard to suppress a snicker as Evi and Justin seem genuinely freaked out by the prospect of finding demon summons in a reversed version of ​‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. While several horror titles have attempted to capture the horror potential of domestic spaces (notably Paranormal Activity, a franchise Tuason will soon add to) the parts never come together in Undertone, as exposition is delivered in clunky monologues and Evi’s earnest spooky internet search terms become progressively more comical. Perhaps the most unbelievable part of the whole premise is that Evi and Justin never interrupt their progressively creepier broadcasts in order to deliver an ad read for online therapy or an overpriced meal kit. Isn’t that real jumpscare in modern podcasting?