Undertone

To repurpose a quote from Frank Herbert’s Dune, “I must not believe hype. Hype is the enjoyment killer. Hype is the little joy that brings total disappointment.” It’s hard not to buy into positive buzz for an upcoming film. Trailers are everywhere, and discussion of those trailers fills social media with hope. I try to avoid being affected by advance publicity; I’ve been burned before. We all want new movies to be great, and opinions are of course subjective, but the fresh-out-of-the-hype-machine Undertone is… underwhelming. 

Evy (Nina Kiri) and her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco) have a podcast called “The Undertone,” in which they discuss various supposedly supernatural topics. Justin is the believer; Evy is the skeptic. One day Justin receives an anonymous email with ten audio files attached with a request to play them on the air in order. The files turn out to be the recorded experiences of couple Mike (Jeff Yung) and Jessa (Keana Lyn Bastidas), in which Jessa is saying strange things in her sleep. Evy cares for her dying, comatose mother, alone with her in the house, and as she listens to the files, odd and frightening things begin to happen.

DiMarco, Yung and Bastidas are all fine if not outstanding in their respective roles, but the fact that none of them are ever seen onscreen mutes their impact somewhat. Kiri is the whole show here, which might not have been a problem if she’d had more original material to work with. Her role is entirely reactive, but her character actively resists reacting for most of the movie, which limits viewer interest. 

Writer/director Ian Tuason has an intriguing concept: a horror film in which the sound design is the main focus. Good sound design is crucial in fright films, both for creating an eerie atmosphere and also providing the visceral part of the jump in jump scares. But unfortunately, the idea is great, but the execution is flawed on almost every level. The script features hidden demonic messages in backwards-played children’s songs and feels generic in its well-trafficked tropes. The visual style, with its tight focus on Evy’s face and repeated usage of negative space, feels derivative of other pictures and never delivers any actual suspense. The sound design builds up a certain sense of unease but never effectively delivers on its promise. 

I remember feeling a sad sense of disappointment at the end of this film. I’d been had by hype again. There’s a great idea here – making a horror movie that primarily highlights the sonic element – but Undertone fails the assignment.