March 11, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Ian Tuason
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed Canadian city, the horror film “Undertone” features an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class.
Culture Clash: A podcaster, who’s caring for her gravely ill mother, tries to unravel the mystery of audio files that were sent to her podcaster co-host, and the two podcasters experiencer terror along the way.
Culture Audience: “Undertone” will appeal primarily to people who are people who are interested in low-budget independent horror films inspired by “Paranormal Activity.”
“Undertone” excels with its outstanding sound design in this story about podcasters who experience paranormal horror. The movie’s last 10 minutes can be considered too abrupt and inconclusive, but the rest of “Undertone” is riveting. Fans of 2009’s “Paranormal Activity” will probably enjoy “Undertone,” although the “found video footage” format of “Paranormal Activity” has a more blatant way of showing the chaotic terror in the story, while “Undertone” deliberately leaves the worst scenarios off camera.
Written and directed by Ian Tuason, “Undertone” is his feature-film directorial debut. The movie had its world premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival, where “Undertone” won the Audience Award. “Undertone” had its U.S. premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The movie takes place in an unnamed Canadian city. “Undertone” was actually filmed in Tuason’s home in Toronto.
“Undertone” is told entirely from the point of view of protagonist Evangeline Marie “Evy” Babic (played by Nina Kiri), who is co-host of a paranormal activity podcast called Undertone. Evy’s co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) lives in an unnamed city that is too far away for him to see Evy in person on a regular basis. Evy (pronounced (“eee-vee”) and Justin co-host the podcast remotely, with Evy working from home. Justin is never seen on camera in this movie.
Evy and Justin have different attitudes about the paranormal. Evy is the skeptic of the duo. Justin is more likely to believe in the paranormal. Their podcast is usually about Evy and Justin examining paranormal reports and deciding which ones are credible or not. Naturally, Evy is more inclined to debunk whatever she and Justin examine.
The beginning of “Undertone” shows that not all is well in the Babic household, which is where Evy grew up. Evy lives an isolated existence, where she is the caregiver for her ailing, bedridden mother (played by Michèle Duquet), who doesn’t have a first name in the movie. Evy’s mother is unconscious or apparently asleep when she is seen on screen. Evy and her mother are the only people who are seen on screen, except for photos of a few other people.
The inside of the Babic house is the only location seen on screen. There are hints throughout the story that Evy grew up in a strict Christian household, but Evy as an adult is now non-religious and probably atheist. “Undertone” has plenty of darkly list scenes to set the mood of this horror film. In other words, Evy and her mother do not know the meaning of a room that has bright lighting. “Undertone” cinematographer Graham Beasley does an admirable job of conveying Evy’s probable agoraphobia in this desolate house.
Later, when Evy’s boyfriend Darren (voiced by Ryan Turner) calls Evy, he coaxes her to go with him to a party because Evy has been “cooped up for weeks.” Evy leaves the house and comes back the next morning. It’s a decision that she soon regrets because of what she sees when she returns home.
Most of “Undertone” (which takes place over the course of a few days) is about Evy and Justin trying to solve the mystery of 10 audio files that they have received from the same unidentified person. Evy and Justin play each file live during episodes of their podcast and take occasional calls from listeners to get audience comments on what they hear in these files. Each file gives more clues about what could possibly be happening in these recordings.
Evy and Justin find out early on that the recordings are of a couple named Mike (voiced by Jeff Yung) and Jessa (voiced by Keana Lyn Bastidas), who are expecting a child together. “Undertone” has several themes about pregnancy, children dying, and how certain nursery rhymes are really songs about children in peril. “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “London Bridge Is Falling Down” are the two nursery rhymes featured prominently in the movie.
At a certain point in the movie, “Undertone” will keep viewers guessing about what might be real and what might be someone’s hallucinations. Because Evy is the only character who’s seen on screen for the vast majority of “Undertone,” the movie relies heavily on Kiri’s gripping performance, is which convincing throughout the film. The disturbing sounds that are heard in this movie are equally effective. It’s best to see this movie with the most advanced audio system possible. “Undertone” doesn’t have any major surprises, but it’s a notable example of a horror movie that leaves much of the terror up to viewers’ imaginations.
A24 will release “Undertone” in U.S. cinemas on March 13, 2026. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on March 9, 2026.