Undertone (2 1/2 stars out of 4)
Ian Tuason’s “Undertone” does a lot with a little, but it doesn’t do one critical thing.
“Undertone” is the story of a podcaster in desperate need of some work/life boundaries. Evy (Nina Kiri) is the co-host of a podcast that specializes in creepy subject matter. She and her co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) stake out general roles on the subject of the paranormal–Evy is the skeptic, Justin is the believer–and analyze a variety of phenomena accordingly.
As “Undertone” opens, Evy has set up shop in her ailing mother’s house, and records late at night, presumably to enhance the atmosphere of the subject matter. Evy’s mother has been sick for sometime, and is now almost catatonic, perhaps only days from death.
The newest subject for the podcast is a mysterious collection of audio files that were sent anonymously to Justin’s email. Evy and Justin plan to listen to them together, one at a time, and try to determine 1) what they are hearing, and 2) whether it is genuine or clever fakery.
Most of “Undertone” follows Evy through this process (we never see Justin on screen, or anyone else aside from Evy’s mother, for that matter), and as they work their way through the content over multiple evenings, strange things start to happen around the house: unexplained sounds, lights turning on, etc. It doesn’t help that Justin manages to find some nefarious connection to every possible sound they hear on the recordings, which seem to have been recorded by a married couple experiencing dark phenomena of their own.
About 95% of horror movies would use this opportunity for a string of easy jump scares, and to its credit, “Undertone” avoids this temptation. But even without the jarring sounds or cheap freaky visuals, Tuason still manages to establish a creepy atmosphere and keep you watching for subtle signs of trouble in shadows, windows, reflections, etc.
As the movie moves along, we find out more details about Evy’s situation, and “Undertone” makes some connections to the mysterious recordings that warn of trouble to come. And the trouble comes, sure enough. The problem is its arrival feels more like a little kid dumping out a box full of toys rather than Evy solving a horrifying puzzle in a moment of terror.
“Undertone” is really good at establishing atmosphere, but it’s not very good at finishing a story. It sets up a number of narrative threads and possibilities, but fails to connect anything with satisfaction during a dramatic third act that fails to answer any questions. We know that things happen, but we’re still not sure why, or how, or what the point of any of it was. A little ambiguity is fine, but this feels more like Tuason just didn’t know where to go with the story.
The exclusive focus on Evy’s POV is interesting (Kiri’s solo performance is notable), and the way Tuason maximizes the atmosphere and the creepiness despite what appears to be a non-existent budget is impressive. But the ending kind of kills the effort.
“Undertone” is rated R for some scattered profanity and disturbing subject matter.