The Scream Queen

To anyone out there considering starting a podcast, here’s a word of advice; don’t. This is for two main reasons:

1. Everyone has a podcast nowadays, most have nothing genuinely interesting to say.
2. You might accidentally summon an ancient demon who will make sure you’ll never sleep again.

The latter is the premise of new hyped up horror Undertone, directed by Ian Tuason and presented by A24 as “the scariest movie you’ll ever hear”. Exploiting our primal fears of the sounds that lurk within the silence, Undertone follows Evy (Nina Kiri), co-host of the titular ‘scary stories’ style podcast and carer to her dying mother (Michelle Duquet). When fellow host Justin (Adam DiMarco) reveals they have been sent a series of mysterious audio recordings from a pregnant couple, Evy unravels a narrative eerily parallel to her own, and well – you can guess the rest.

Undertone takes a well-worn out premise (demonic entities, creepy crayon drawings, and cursed children singing) and applies it to a format that is surprisingly unexplored within the horror sphere. The humble podcast is no longer reserved for tales of true crime or celebrities looking to revive their career’s; literally anyone can (and does) have a podcast. Its accessibility is part of the charm, and in turn is part of its fatigue. It is a clever form of media to skewer with a terrifying twist, however one of Undertone’s biggest pitfalls is its inability to seem like a real podcast. The dialogue is basic at best, and each podcast recording consists of 10 minute stints plagued by classic lines such as:

‘did you hear that?’

‘How can you not hear that?’

‘I think we should stop listening.’

Etcetera, etcertera. Combined with the hosts actually looking at images on their screens which their listeners would be unable to see, the podcast rarely feels legitimate, and is criminally underutilised.

As with the majority of 2020’s horror, particularly those produced by A24, Undertone struggles with its identity as it feels pigeonholed into the ‘elevated horror’ category. Filled with religious iconography, themes of guilt and grief, and stylishly edited into small vignette style segments, Undertone tries desperately to be a critically acclaimed masterpiece that will be picked apart and endlessly analysed, yet it is more akin to a pretentious take on Paranormal Activity. Undertone drowns under the weight of this pretense, as multiple storylines are thrown in for the sake of thematic leverage only to be discarded (e.g. Evy’s past with alcohol addiction, her boyfriend troubles, and to an extent, her pregnancy).

Despite it’s often messy storyline, there is no denying that Undertone is an utterly terrifying cinematic experience. Excruciatingly precise sound design amps up the tension, and when partnered with camera work that lingers on the empty spaces, it ignites a primal fear of the unknown that will make you feel like a child stuck in a dark room with no way out. When the lights finally came back on at the end of the screening, everyone in the room relaxed their shoulders and let out a sigh of relief. And although Undertone may be narratively flawed, whispers of the film will follow you home. Like The Ring, hearing the audio files play out one by one feels like a slow curse is being placed upon you; and when it finally gets to the tenth one, it’s clear there is no escape from Undertone’s grip.

Final Verdict:

They say that it is not the dark that is to be feared, but the unknown of what hides in the dark. Undertone has an innate understanding of this fear, leaving its audience constantly wondering what sounds might be lurking beneath the quiet. Singing, crying, whispering, and complete and utter silence; Undertone is a masterclass in horrifying sound design. What it lacks in narrative substance, it makes up for in stylised terror, even if most of the scares are some of the oldest in the book. It could have been one of the most uniquely terrifying experiences of the year if Tuason had fully exploited the podcast premise. However, like an earwig, Undertone manages to creep into the subconscious and fester there, making you aware of the silence – and every little noise within it.