(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Evy Babic, a skeptical paranormal pod-caster caring for her comatose mother, receives disturbing recordings tied to a folkloric threat, and every new file pulls her closer to fears she can no longer explain away.”
Folks, I’ve likely spent an unhealthy amount of time watching Undertone (2025).
Normally when I screen a new release (or thereabouts), I’ll watch it once, twice if I’ve a physical disc with commentary. Occasionally, I’ll even give it another spin – depending upon my time commitments and/or whether or not I was intrigued by something specific – but, naturally, all of this revolves around my availability. Given the fact that this has been a reasonably slow summer, I put off watching a handful of releases until they popped up on streaming: Undertone was one that caught my eye, but I never got to the theaters. Now that it’s on HBO/MAX I gave it a whirl, and I was uncharacteristically pulled deeper and deeper into its puzzle.
On a casual level, one could argue that the story from writer/director Ian Tuason resembles almost anything that’s come to light from M. Night Shyamalan: once you know the ending, it’s challenging to rewatch it because (1) you know where it’s heading and (2) because you know where it ends you may interpret scenes or images or relationships wildly differently. Now, this isn’t to suggest that Undertone has a big narrative ‘twist’ (as many dub Shyamalan’s efforts); but there’s still a dramatic change that recasts some of what came before, so much so that you’ll likely find some of it as mystifying (in mostly a good way) if reconsidering it.
On another level completely, I’m a serious audiophile (or a sort). Back in my misspent youth, I had dreams of perhaps getting into professional broadcasting – did a stint working at radio station both in high school and college – mostly because I was so intrigued with how sound is used in conveying both advertising and messages. A great deal of information can be unloaded in just about every sequence of good filmmaking; and Undertone is the kind of thing that film junkies might find themselves gravitating to again and again. Some of what Tuason accomplishes is laudable, and yet I think there’s a good portion of whatnot piled on solely for what I’ll call ‘creative misdirection.’
You see, a good portion of the flick takes place during the recording of a podcast: Evy (played by Nina Kiri) and Justin (Adam DiMarco) reside on separate continents but come together electronically to produce Undertone, an exploration of various off-the-beaten-path examinations of thrillers and chillers which get forwarded to them via their audience. While he never quite sounds as if he believes the haunts they explore, Justin plays the ‘open to the possibilities’ role mostly while Evy debunks the mysteries with a grounding in rational thinking. They’re not exactly two sides of the same coin, but for the purposes of entertaining their listenership theirs is an affable partnership.
As we join the podcasters on this shared journey, Evy has taken time away from her social life to care for her mother, a comatose woman who is essentially at death’s door. Still committed to her show and needing a bit of distraction from her somber surroundings, Evy stays awake to the wee hours of the morning in order to confer with Justin over the internet. It’s at this point that the young man reveals that he’s been forwarded ten cryptic audio files from an anonymous member of their audience; and, together, the two plunge headfirst into a slowly darkening labyrinth which might spell their doom.
Essentially, Undertone functions similar to 2002’s The Ring. In that film, investigators were titillated over a presumably haunted videotape that – once watched – would lead to the viewer’s death seven days later. While Undertone lacks the open and obvious curse that worked as part of The Ring’s core mythology, I presume audiences here largely suspect that being lead through these increasingly desperate audio clips brings with it some dire existential consequence. Tuason definitely delivers on that premise – yes, there is a toll to be paid for traveling were one shouldn’t have – and yet the picture can’t quite escape a feeling of nebulousness for those of us who watch closely … and, yes, perhaps we watch too closely.
Where the narrative seams rip is with the fact that Evy – an admitted skeptic – is never quite established as a reliable narrator. For example, we know she’s not sleeping, and we’re treated to several instances wherein even her minor nightmares might be considered the stuff of legend. We know that she’s presently experiencing emotional highs and lows that go hand-in-hand with providing ‘end of life’ care; and Tuason’s script even suggests that mother and daughter didn’t exactly have a textbook healthy relationship to begin with. Added even more fuel to the mental flames is the fact that we learn the young woman is pregnant, is struggling with the idea of whether or not to keep the child and is likely enduring some hormonal challenges what with that stress on her already fragile body.
Was there even enough room for a spectral curse – one that just happens to involve an entity with proclivities toward unborn children – to unfurl that wouldn’t push her over the edge?
Therein lies the problem at Undertone’s core: Tuason never clearly spells out whether there was something truly supernatural going on here or we were only witnessing Evy’s psychological collapse? Mind you, methinks there’s room enough for either theory to adequately describe what happens here – remember that we’re dealing with everything being cast from the broken young woman’s perspective – but I’m more inclined to believe that something ghostly went down in those closing scenes as opposed to not. There’s no denying that Evy’s broken come the big finish; and yet I watched this thing quite a few times looking for definitive clues to whether or not she brought it on all herself or some malevolent spirit had his or her way with her psyche.
And, dammit, I just don’t know. I lean one way … but I just don’t know.
However, I think Tuason inserted the biggest clue near the opening. As Undertone comes to life in those moments, we hear Evy singing a popular nursery rhyme to her comatose mother. Her voice is soft and tenuous in spots, but she musters through the tune, hoping that her mere presence is granting her dear old mom a bit of a reprieve. (Having myself been in a similar situation with my cancer-stricken stepfather a few years back, I can certain understand the ‘undercurrent’ of these moments, and I can appreciate how delicate they came across.) Once the title appears – Undertone – the word begins to face until only the first two letters – U and N – are left onscreen, a choice so deliberate I can’t believe it took me a few hours to finally notice.
The prefix ‘un’ is one of the language’s most powerful mostly because it reverts the core meaning of damn near anything it gets attached to. ‘Happy’ because ‘unhappy’ – polar opposites, if ever there were – just as ‘employed’ becomes ‘unemployed.’ Tuason choosing to leave ‘un’ onscreen in the opening moments must mean something; but – like the rest of the picture – I’m UNcertain (when I should be certain) what exactly to make of it. Is the message here that these moments are actually what caused Evy’s UNdoing? Or could it be that ‘un’ is hinting that what we’re about to see isn’t faithfully what we think it is? Has Evy already been broken, and what follows is only her tripped-out interpretation of seemingly related events?
Some of this is what happens when audiences are left with nothing more than their own wild speculation, and this is where Undertone fails (or, at least, doesn’t do us any favors). At times, Justin seems to know more than he’s letting on – he definitely hears things in those original audio files that only an expert doing forensic repair could – and even his cohost expresses frustration with what appears to be a genuine set-up. There are more arrows that point in a direction of some culpability on his part, but I’d rather leave some of that unspoiled and allow for readers and watchers to make up their mind. What I do know is that such storytelling always leaves me a bit cold because an inability to provide clear information can be as deliberate as it is symptomatic of bad storytelling, and that’s never a good position from which to spin any yarn. But … what really happened here?
Once more, I have to conclude that, dammit, I just don’t know.
Mildly Recommended.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that I’m beholden to no one for my review of Undertone (2025) as I viewed this one via streaming on a platform to which I subscribe.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Evy Babic, a skeptical paranormal pod-caster caring for her comatose mother, receives disturbing recordings tied to a folkloric threat, and every new file pulls her closer to fears she can no longer explain away.”
Folks, I’ve likely spent an unhealthy amount of time watching Undertone (2025).
Normally when I screen a new release (or thereabouts), I’ll watch it once, twice if I’ve a physical disc with commentary. Occasionally, I’ll even give it another spin – depending upon my time commitments and/or whether or not I was intrigued by something specific – but, naturally, all of this revolves around my availability. Given the fact that this has been a reasonably slow summer, I put off watching a handful of releases until they popped up on streaming: Undertone was one that caught my eye, but I never got to the theaters. Now that it’s on HBO/MAX I gave it a whirl, and I was uncharacteristically pulled deeper and deeper into its puzzle.
On a casual level, one could argue that the story from writer/director Ian Tuason resembles almost anything that’s come to light from M. Night Shyamalan: once you know the ending, it’s challenging to rewatch it because (1) you know where it’s heading and (2) because you know where it ends you may interpret scenes or images or relationships wildly differently. Now, this isn’t to suggest that Undertone has a big narrative ‘twist’ (as many dub Shyamalan’s efforts); but there’s still a dramatic change that recasts some of what came before, so much so that you’ll likely find some of it as mystifying (in mostly a good way) if reconsidering it.
On another level completely, I’m a serious audiophile (or a sort). Back in my misspent youth, I had dreams of perhaps getting into professional broadcasting – did a stint working at radio station both in high school and college – mostly because I was so intrigued with how sound is used in conveying both advertising and messages. A great deal of information can be unloaded in just about every sequence of good filmmaking; and Undertone is the kind of thing that film junkies might find themselves gravitating to again and again. Some of what Tuason accomplishes is laudable, and yet I think there’s a good portion of whatnot piled on solely for what I’ll call ‘creative misdirection.’
You see, a good portion of the flick takes place during the recording of a podcast: Evy (played by Nina Kiri) and Justin (Adam DiMarco) reside on separate continents but come together electronically to produce Undertone, an exploration of various off-the-beaten-path examinations of thrillers and chillers which get forwarded to them via their audience. While he never quite sounds as if he believes the haunts they explore, Justin plays the ‘open to the possibilities’ role mostly while Evy debunks the mysteries with a grounding in rational thinking. They’re not exactly two sides of the same coin, but for the purposes of entertaining their listenership theirs is an affable partnership.
As we join the podcasters on this shared journey, Evy has taken time away from her social life to care for her mother, a comatose woman who is essentially at death’s door. Still committed to her show and needing a bit of distraction from her somber surroundings, Evy stays awake to the wee hours of the morning in order to confer with Justin over the internet. It’s at this point that the young man reveals that he’s been forwarded ten cryptic audio files from an anonymous member of their audience; and, together, the two plunge headfirst into a slowly darkening labyrinth which might spell their doom.
Essentially, Undertone functions similar to 2002’s The Ring. In that film, investigators were titillated over a presumably haunted videotape that – once watched – would lead to the viewer’s death seven days later. While Undertone lacks the open and obvious curse that worked as part of The Ring’s core mythology, I presume audiences here largely suspect that being lead through these increasingly desperate audio clips brings with it some dire existential consequence. Tuason definitely delivers on that premise – yes, there is a toll to be paid for traveling were one shouldn’t have – and yet the picture can’t quite escape a feeling of nebulousness for those of us who watch closely … and, yes, perhaps we watch too closely.
Where the narrative seams rip is with the fact that Evy – an admitted skeptic – is never quite established as a reliable narrator. For example, we know she’s not sleeping, and we’re treated to several instances wherein even her minor nightmares might be considered the stuff of legend. We know that she’s presently experiencing emotional highs and lows that go hand-in-hand with providing ‘end of life’ care; and Tuason’s script even suggests that mother and daughter didn’t exactly have a textbook healthy relationship to begin with. Added even more fuel to the mental flames is the fact that we learn the young woman is pregnant, is struggling with the idea of whether or not to keep the child and is likely enduring some hormonal challenges what with that stress on her already fragile body.
Was there even enough room for a spectral curse – one that just happens to involve an entity with proclivities toward unborn children – to unfurl that wouldn’t push her over the edge?
Therein lies the problem at Undertone’s core: Tuason never clearly spells out whether there was something truly supernatural going on here or we were only witnessing Evy’s psychological collapse? Mind you, methinks there’s room enough for either theory to adequately describe what happens here – remember that we’re dealing with everything being cast from the broken young woman’s perspective – but I’m more inclined to believe that something ghostly went down in those closing scenes as opposed to not. There’s no denying that Evy’s broken come the big finish; and yet I watched this thing quite a few times looking for definitive clues to whether or not she brought it on all herself or some malevolent spirit had his or her way with her psyche.
And, dammit, I just don’t know. I lean one way … but I just don’t know.
However, I think Tuason inserted the biggest clue near the opening. As Undertone comes to life in those moments, we hear Evy singing a popular nursery rhyme to her comatose mother. Her voice is soft and tenuous in spots, but she musters through the tune, hoping that her mere presence is granting her dear old mom a bit of a reprieve. (Having myself been in a similar situation with my cancer-stricken stepfather a few years back, I can certain understand the ‘undercurrent’ of these moments, and I can appreciate how delicate they came across.) Once the title appears – Undertone – the word begins to face until only the first two letters – U and N – are left onscreen, a choice so deliberate I can’t believe it took me a few hours to finally notice.
The prefix ‘un’ is one of the language’s most powerful mostly because it reverts the core meaning of damn near anything it gets attached to. ‘Happy’ because ‘unhappy’ – polar opposites, if ever there were – just as ‘employed’ becomes ‘unemployed.’ Tuason choosing to leave ‘un’ onscreen in the opening moments must mean something; but – like the rest of the picture – I’m UNcertain (when I should be certain) what exactly to make of it. Is the message here that these moments are actually what caused Evy’s UNdoing? Or could it be that ‘un’ is hinting that what we’re about to see isn’t faithfully what we think it is? Has Evy already been broken, and what follows is only her tripped-out interpretation of seemingly related events?
Some of this is what happens when audiences are left with nothing more than their own wild speculation, and this is where Undertone fails (or, at least, doesn’t do us any favors). At times, Justin seems to know more than he’s letting on – he definitely hears things in those original audio files that only an expert doing forensic repair could – and even his cohost expresses frustration with what appears to be a genuine set-up. There are more arrows that point in a direction of some culpability on his part, but I’d rather leave some of that unspoiled and allow for readers and watchers to make up their mind. What I do know is that such storytelling always leaves me a bit cold because an inability to provide clear information can be as deliberate as it is symptomatic of bad storytelling, and that’s never a good position from which to spin any yarn. But … what really happened here?
Once more, I have to conclude that, dammit, I just don’t know.
Mildly Recommended.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that I’m beholden to no one for my review of Undertone (2025) as I viewed this one via streaming on a platform to which I subscribe.
-- EZ
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