The subdued horror film "Undertone" features an interesting mix of elements. It has energetic sound with visual stillness, mysterious folklore with historical fact, and religious guilt with simmering terror. These pairings are promising and thought-provoking, but they don’t guarantee this film’s greatness.
"Undertone" was released on March 13 of this year, was included in this year’s Sundance Film Festival in January, and was distributed by the hot artsy film studio, A24. While caring for her dying, bed-ridden mother in her small home, a young woman tries to focus on her job as a podcast host (or really cohost) discussing stories of the paranormal. But when she receives a small collection of spooky recordings and listens to them, she gradually becomes haunted creeping closer and closer to ruin.
Movie theaters have had a lot of magnified violence lately with the new releases "They Will Kill You," "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come," "Scream 7," "Send Help," and "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." All of these films have been in theaters in the last two-and-a-half months. "Undertone" is notable because it isn’t giving audiences any blood, guts, or fighting. This horror film is psychological, restrained, and intimate.
For a film about podcasting (at least on the surface) it has a few scenes with lots of dialogue. This dialogue is necessary to explain the ominous recordings the pair of podcasters are trying to understand, and this dialogue mostly feels flat. Neither of the podcaster characters talk with any genuine interest or charisma.
"Undertone" has some moments of palpable unease with long, frozen shots of the quiet interiors of an empty home. The entire film is actually only shot inside this home, subliminally evoking a sense of claustrophobic dread. The main actress, Nina Kiri, is the only person seen on screen for most of this film. Almost all her conversations are with people over the phone, forcing viewers to imagine who she is talking to.
Nina Kiri is mostly known for her supporting role on "The Handmaid’s Tale" TV series. Her role in this film requires some emotional heavy lifting, which is probably why she’s so inconsistent. It appears, intermittently, to be too heavy a lift for her, because she comes off as robotic in some parts but then fragile in others.
This film is not a significant creative spark in the horror genre but more like a creative ember. Like if the screenwriter & director (Ian Tuason) had a promising mix of ideas but then took an Ambien before his production meeting ended.
"Undertone" has some moments of brilliance, and it offers a lot of commentary on the growing isolation happening in collective youth culture. But it’s a shame all of its ideas couldn’t come together in more captivating, emotional, and cohesive way.
