Welcome to the Undertone Podcast - a show that records live and seemingly features live possessions on-air?
The sound design, amazingly well done, is the draw of this film and what makes it unique. However, it is weird to sit in a dark theater with strangers, with nothing on the screen and some weird demonic gibberish, that sounds like a Bone-Thugs acapella track, playing through the speakers of the theater.
That would be a weird time to walk into the wrong theater.
Undertone is the directorial debut of freshmen director Ian Tuason and is shot in his childhood home. The film largely centers on the character of Evy (Nina Kiry) who hosts a podcast with her friend (voiced by Adam DiMarco), who the audience never meets, that is recorded and produced in the home of her dying mother. Evy and her mother (Keana Lyn Bastidas) are impressively the only two actors in the entire film that are seen on screen.
Quite a feat, as movies carried by only one actor are typically reserved as vanity projects of high profile actors such as Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, or James Franco. Nina Kiry holds it down. Her co-star Keana Lyn Bastidas basically just plays dead the whole movie and occasionally shits herself. But Nina Kiry’s performance is impressive nevertheless.
Quick shout out to the constantly steaming teakettle that also gets quite a bit of screen time.
Honestly Ian Tuason’s childhood home might be the creepiest thing about the film. If I had grown up here, I’d probably write and create something as messed up as this film too. I’d be interested to know if all the catholic art on the walls was authentically already there or brought in by the props department.
Also, shout out to all the mirrors. Yeah. Enjoy that.
To really enjoy Undertone, the film requires you to buy into it’s world. You have to trust that Evy is a good person, you have to trust that who she is talking to over the phone is actually her other podcast host, and you have to trust that recording a podcast at three in the morning is totally normal and not weird whatsoever. You have to trust that all of her equipment works properly. No sound checks are necessary and no spotty wifi signal.
The film mainly rests on the premise: But wouldn’t it be crazy if what you listened to on a podcast started actually happening?
Podcasting these days is big business with deals getting netted on Spotify for millions and essentially replacing radio, yet we are required to believe that this character records this podcast in the middle of the night, records non-chalantly whenever the vibes feel right, has an infrequent release schedule, and takes live callers at three in the morning.
Right…
So as podcasting takes center stage in this film, it also simultaneously breaks the film’s immersion, as the majority of the film’s story is told through sound. Which is interesting, don’t get me wrong, the sound design in Undertone is phenomenal. However, if you were to remove the sound or mute the television, the movie is essentially filming a woman sitting on a laptop with headphones on in the dark. Sure some of the angles are artsy, but there are only so many ways you can film a person sitting at a desk. It is these moments where you can feel the limited low budget of Ian Tuason’s film.
Towards the end of the film, as the tension ramps up and the horror is no longer subtle; you think to yourself: “Holy Moses - are they still recording a podcast? This is going to be a killer episode that I will enjoy on the treadmill.”
As soon as that thought escapes - the horror escapes along with it. The film is much more effective away from the mic of the podcast, away from the concept of podcasting entirely. It is a somewhat effective story vehicle and serves as a clever way to avoid paying actors to be on the screen. But podcasting is only the latest technology to do what many films, like 2005’s ‘White Noise,’ have done: make the audience realize that the demons are powerless, unless you pay the utility bill.
The set up for this film is interesting in that it only stars two people. But what if instead of the mother character dying, she is alive, coherent, but bedridden? The daughter, her caretaker, is downstairs having her little paranormal podcasting hobby, but she gets possessed by a demon instead. The scares no longer come from the demons being reliant on electronics. Instead, it is dreadful anytime the daughter comes back up the stairs to take care of the mom via “What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?” meets “Misery,” meets “Hereditary.”
From interviews with the director, Ian Tuason mentioned that he studied many horror films including the pacing of horror movies. The pacing, for a movie this light on story, is done incredibly well. But it is obvious that this film takes many elements of the genre and throws them into a Ninja blender. To its credit, the direction of the film shows incredible restraint as the film contains minimal jump scares.
I think it’s the first film to ever include a jump scare using white Jesus.
Shout out to Jumpscare Jesus.
Undertone uses all the horror tricks. Lights that mysteriously go on and off. Furniture that is now on the ceiling. The camera flips upside down, making us feel like we are also on the ceiling. That weird tracking shot that pans past the character and then pans back to reveal that something is now behind them. Minimal lighting that hides things going bump in the dark. Point being: if it’s nightmare fuel and it worked before, it’s attempted here. Many of the elements of the film are hinted at early on: a picture slightly crooked, a statue being out of place, phrases being hinted at, songs being used - they ALL get called back at a certain point. There are so many elements that get called back you would need to do repeat viewings, or at the very least - take notes. Who can remember all the creepy elements? It’s like a meal that is stuffed with so many flavors you don’t taste most of them.
As Gordon Ramsey says: “You’ve got so much going on, I don’t know whether to eat it, put it on my skin or put it in my hair.”
I liked Undertone. I think it was worth the price of admission to the theater. I think this is a solid freshmen effort by first time director Ian Tuason and I am excited to see where his career takes him. The downside of this film is that there is a lot going on. You can get past the nitpicks of the podcast thing and too many things going on at once, but what you can’t get past is the absolutely necessary theater viewing experience. This film is made to be seen in a theater with an amazing sound system. It is unique in this element, almost like the ‘Fantasia’ of horror. Sadly, because of the way the theater system pumps and dumps movies these days the theatrical window is getting smaller and smaller. You will most likely watch this movie at home or on a laptop. That is simply not the viewing experience this movie deserves, and because nothing else about it stands out, it will fall by the wayside of another piece of content for the streamers.