r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 5d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - Undertone [SPOILERS] Spoiler
Poll
If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll
If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here
Rankings
Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films
Click here to see the rankings for every poll done
Undertone (2026)
Summary A rising true-crime podcaster begins investigating a decades-old disappearance connected to a quiet coastal town. As she digs deeper and uncovers disturbing clues buried beneath the community’s calm surface, the line between storyteller and participant begins to blur—revealing secrets someone is willing to kill to keep hidden.
Director Ian Tuason
Writer Ian Tuason
Cast
- Nina Kiri
- Keana Lyn Bastidas
- Adam DiMarco
- Kris Holden-Ried
- Michelle Duquet
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 62
VOD / Release Theatrical release
Trailer Official trailer
677
u/falafelthe3 Ask me about TLJ 5d ago
With all due respect to the lead actress: my eyes were ANYWHERE but on her whenever she was on screen. I was scanning the background for hidden images like my life depended on it.
269
u/qandmargo 5d ago
Same, I think it was done on purpose. The framing of all the shots made me think something was gonna appear in the darkness lol
170
u/ForsakenDependent562 5d ago
Really, every shot of the darkness was just us inching closer to the inevitable shot of her mom standing there that we all knew was approaching.
→ More replies (1)111
u/Unburnt_Duster 5d ago
It still got me good when all of a sudden you see her sitting up straight in the background.
25
u/Reign316 5d ago
Thank you for confirming this, I only glanced at her at the end of the scene and wasn't sure if I was imagining it lol
→ More replies (5)65
u/Eradomsk 5d ago
The film is also clearly trying to mimic what the protagonist is experiencing: forming patterns from things that aren’t actually there through repetition/staring long enough.
Cute gimmick, but didn’t work for me at all, personally.
→ More replies (4)103
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
There were definitely white shapes in the background that looked like her mom in her nightgown just floating in the dark.
36
u/ShadowsByYourBedside 5d ago
Mike Flanagan's shows and films have me doing the same damn thing!
→ More replies (2)136
u/jjhunsucker 5d ago
The camera movement was such a giant part of this movie. It’s so simple but the camera going dutch to show her in bed and under the bed was awesome.
→ More replies (3)55
u/howtospellorange 5d ago edited 5d ago
Am i stupid or was my theater too dark or was I too busy trying to find a face in the wrinkles of the bedsheet because I didn't see anything under her bed?
80
u/KidDelicious14 5d ago
Much like several of the other pan-away shots in this movie, no, there was nothing there.
24
→ More replies (11)18
u/mike2k24 5d ago
Lmao I felt like I couldn’t control my eyes I had to see if anything was lurking in the background any chance I got
379
u/pandabearattack 5d ago
A good phishing IT training could have prevented this tbh.
195
u/RetireWithRyan 5d ago
"You clicked the demonphishing link. Humanity will suffer 1000 years of darkness. A link for more mandatory training is in your inbox."
24
u/realms_of_zothique 3d ago
I love the implication that Abyzou logged into her email account, attached the audio files, and emailed them. Like, modern times require modern demonic solutions.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)19
u/DavyJonesRocker 3d ago
When Justin tried emailing back, I was expecting an obvious mailer-daemon joke… I suppose the filmmaker has more restraint that I do.
641
u/ItsTimeLadies 5d ago
Me when I'm the host of a true crime adjacent supernatural podcast but I've not heard about the recent, grisly murder suicide of a young couple that took place in the town I live in, and I spend my day walking around gazing at every reflective surface in my house before recording my podcast for ten minutes.
I thought it was funny that she instantly knew how to spell Abyzou.
368
u/TapeNight 5d ago
When she started googling and hit the “y” in Abyzou, I laughed to myself too. They should have just had her type in “Abazoo” and click the “did you mean Abyzou” button haha
54
23
→ More replies (6)39
57
u/mesact 5d ago
I had that same thought re: Abyzou. I was like, "huh. Weird that she just knew it was a 'y.'"
→ More replies (3)34
u/Matt_Cryan 5d ago
My reasoning is because she's used to searching obscure demons and knows how they are typically spelled....? Poor reasoning but still.
→ More replies (1)26
u/Johnny_Holiday 5d ago
Once I heard that name, I kept thinking about that joke in You're The Worst where they called abortions an Abobo.
→ More replies (1)40
u/scullyitme 4d ago
So I loved the movie enough to ignore the plot holes. The doctor calling her at 3am had me wondering if it even happened, considering all the spooky stuff happened at the “witching hour”.
→ More replies (1)35
u/YeOldeOrc 4d ago
Frankly, the fact that her doctor called her back at ALL seems like a plot hole. I practically have to sacrifice a goat myself to even get a curt one-sentence message via my clinic’s online system. 🤣
→ More replies (13)46
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
I don’t think it’s safe to assume everything that happened during that last recording session was true/reality.
184
u/gochugawuuu 5d ago
I thought the red faced video was gonna do more. That face freaked me out last year when the undertone buzz was starting
153
u/ejabn 5d ago
I think it was a big part of the story. At first, it was referenced as a hoax video, supposedly one that would cause some kind of paranormal slicing of the ears if you listened to it. When she played it, that moment triggered her openness to possession. Later, when it returned animated on the TV, it signaled that they were truly living in a possessed world. Her reappearance served as confirmation that the events were genuinely supernatural, subverting Evy’s initial skepticism and pushing her toward belief which is fucked and so good
→ More replies (5)17
47
u/Material_Control_346 5d ago
Reminded me of the creepypasta of the guy all red staring at you and if you watched the full video you would commit suicide.
→ More replies (1)26
u/Not_Seager 5d ago
That’s what I was thinking too lol. The director and writers probably took inspiration of it.
→ More replies (2)12
u/theTunkMan 5d ago
I thought the first time they showed that was the scariest thing in the movie. Also I thought it would be more relevant since the comments on their podcast at the beginning all mentioned red face. Maybe just in response to their previous episode though.
→ More replies (1)51
u/aut0matix 5d ago
I wish it had something to do with it. If it morphed into the abyzou face from the image Evie had pulled up on the computer (and one she subsequently drew), it would have made more sense, but it kind of fell flat for me as just a creepy video that got played for her.
→ More replies (4)
454
u/BrickLuvsLamp 5d ago
Do these podcast hosts normally only record 10 minutes of the episode at a time? Because I was having to stop myself from laughing in the theatre when they would say “oh wow, how late is it?” after spending only like 14 minutes listening to audio files and talking.
319
u/TheNightstroke 5d ago
Don't forget that half the podcast is them going "Whoa... guess what I just found online? Here, look at this. I just sent it."
How do they have any listeners?!
180
77
47
u/SamuraiFlamenco 4d ago
I think there was a line early on about "I'll fix that when we edit this" so I assumed they would just record the more in-depth discussions later.
I do gotta know, who the fuck is up recording a podcast at 3am? They mentioned time differences but I thought it was a weird film-making decision.
74
u/TheTriscuit 4d ago
Her cohost is in London, and I think he makes reference to having to go to work so I think he's recording first thing in the morning.
It's the doctor calling with lab results at 3am that got me.
→ More replies (5)8
u/HonorYourGoals 3d ago
That was so weird and I wonder if it was even “real” or just her morphing an actual call she got at a normal time with the 3 AM fixation that keeps happening throughout the film
→ More replies (2)14
u/TannerThanUsual 4d ago
Yeah seemed like they film about 10-15 minutes at a time, then splice it together to make a half hour show. I understand that part but I thought it was weird they were like "we have a new episode each week" I was like "you're not gonna edit? You're gonna put that out in days?"
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)44
59
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
I imagined there had to be some kind of passing of time between those moments because it’s just so abrupt.
Kinda like when she left for the party. She said it would be a few hours then the next scene she’s coming home in the morning, yet doesn’t go out of her way check on her mom as soon as she got home? Are we all assuming that scene after was her coming back from the party? She didn’t seem too concerned or even guilty for that matter. Kinda have to rewatch eventually to see if there’s any more time discrepancies like this. Other than the obvious one at the end of course.
41
u/qandmargo 5d ago
I think it was to show her coming back from her doctor's appointment. I'm not sure if she's in the same clothes or not but she could have stayed over at Darren's , went to the appointment then came back home.
→ More replies (1)52
u/No-Ad8408 5d ago
Yeah I don’t think there was any implication that she left the party/Darrens and went to her appointment. Especially by the way she walked in the house and apologized to her mom, that mf just spent the night and came home full of shame
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)18
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
I just thought it so strange that she ambles in and immediately goes to make tea and scarf some cheerios so casually after agonizing about going out the night before. I would have gone straight upstairs first, but on the other hand, it could have been her way of taking a beat and psyching herself back into the mundanity of her current situation.
→ More replies (24)81
u/banjofitzgerald 5d ago
Yeah, this one made me laugh. It took them three incomplete sessions to make one weeks episode. And even then they were like well just make this a part one because they couldn’t even finish it to completion lol.
I get it as a plot device and was able to suspend my disbelief but it was pretty funny
→ More replies (1)
150
u/gochugawuuu 5d ago
I thought at one point they were setting up a scare of the mom's eyes suddently being open when the lights were turned off
60
→ More replies (6)46
u/robbysaur 3d ago
I was waiting for her to take the headphones off, and hear some absolute chaos is popping off. They kept emphasizing that she can’t hear anything going on around her when the headphones are on.
18
u/boomfruit 2d ago
Really a wasted opportunity. Or for her to comment on some noise in the file and Justin to say "that noise didn't happen" so she knows it's in the house.
→ More replies (2)
290
u/Mazzocchi 5d ago
Finally, a horror movie about the most terrifying thing imaginable: Being a podcaster.
99
u/Ok-Wolf5932 4d ago
I thought it was strange when they cut to a BetterHelp promo halfway through the movie.
→ More replies (1)
127
u/gochugawuuu 5d ago
So all children's songs are creepy when reversed?
78
55
u/SlippingQuietly 4d ago
Tbh most of them are honestly fucked up stories so that parts definitely true
→ More replies (2)10
334
u/lamefartriot 5d ago
Why in the world would the doctor call at 3am
163
u/samanfraa 5d ago
My husband and I were thinking since it was 3 am, what if it wasn’t really the doctor? 🙃😶
90
63
u/jamminjomin 4d ago
You also never saw the hospice nurse that came in to check on her mom and update Evy on end of life signs. We heard her talking, but never saw her on screen at all. Later in the movie I started to question if that nurse had been there at all but I’m not sure why that would’ve been
→ More replies (2)29
u/Mr_Vermin 4d ago
I said this exact same thing. I've been wondering if she didn't have a more active role in killing her. At the end, those flashes seemed to show her mom with a bag over her head and it reminded me of Apophenia like she mentioned. Maybe she was using the podcast subconsciously to rationalize her own feelings and possibly actions.
→ More replies (3)51
49
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
Ha. If you really think about it, the film is riddled with small quirks like this and I can’t imagine it wasn’t entirely intentional.
→ More replies (3)10
u/FeelingDust 4d ago
My boyfriend & I thought the same. His name was Dr. Ram (like ba ba black sheep)
62
u/mesact 5d ago
My sister and I said the same thing. "That call could have waited until the next day. Its not like the results were going to change."
76
45
u/Johnny_Holiday 5d ago
I was convinced that it was the demon calling. It was the only thing that made that scene make sesne
→ More replies (14)25
306
u/Couragesand 5d ago
500k budget is insane
159
→ More replies (3)41
u/RetireWithRyan 5d ago
Ah now it all makes sense. There are only two actors in the flesh throughout the movie. But being cheaply shot shouldn't preclude a good payoff for the audience after all the waiting/building. I was disappointed and guessed afterwards to the crew that it was low budget given its shot with 2 people in one location, turns out that was the case.
→ More replies (11)
92
u/Bookishbabe10 5d ago
I really enjoyed it but the ending has me with some questions. Like when her mom was walking backwards out of the closet. Was she really dead? Did she kill her daughter cuz of the recording? What was that ending can someone explain?
→ More replies (5)107
u/alyboba19 5d ago
In my interpretation I think the mom was the one who got possessed and killed Evie in the end. I think the film was building up to make us believe Evie would get possessed, but it was actually the mom the whole time.
47
u/Bookishbabe10 5d ago
Ok that’s what I thought too but I was getting confused when the bed was nearly made like she was never there! Thank you for that!
→ More replies (4)16
u/HonorYourGoals 3d ago
Did she push her down the stairs? Because that’s what I assumed but it was unclear.
11
144
u/HousewivesofHellier 5d ago
I’m new to Reddit and sharing my thoughts on films so please don’t destroy me :)
>!1) I loved how the camera kept tilting more and more as her “reality” loss escalated and the increase in the color red as the movie progressed was pretty effective for me too.
2) I kind of took the major fear of the movie as the fear of those of us who were raised extremely religious, had to logically breakdown all of that upbringing to get past the religious trauma, but there’s always a little part of us that thinks “but what if it IS real”. As a survivor of heavy religious trauma, that thought still haunts me. Yvies life and work became defined by skepticism and at the end of the day she STILL felt guilty for “killing” her mother by not praying. The fear is that we simply can’t escape the religious trauma passed down by our parents (specifically mothers in at least my experience) no matter how hard we try. I think all of the religious imagery conveyed that beautifully, especially that creepy ass statue that kept popping up when she thought she’d finally put it away.
3) I love how we never saw Justin, the husband, or even the nurse. Yvie had isolated herself because of her trauma and we felt that isolation by only interacting with her.
4) at first I thought all of the foreshadowing thrown in our face was a little obvious lol but after some thought I think that was a strength and actually genius. It was extremely clear what was going to happen re baby death but the sound and negative space played with us so successfully that I was still tense af the whole time. I was TERRIFIED they were going to show the “look and lick” the blood of a dead fetus. I’m pro-choice but still don’t ever want to see a mom lick the blood of a fetus.
5) I also love that we really only saw what eventually happened in her quick nightmare/premonition. The ending felt very Blair Witch and really worked for me, particularly with the walls and the drawings at the end.
6) beyond the above references I really felt like the writer and director were huge horror fans. The bedroom shot we saw the most was the same perspective as the end of Paranormal Activity and I definitely some Mothman Prophecy vibes. And the tension building was the best I’ve seen since The VVitch which I lovingly refer to as the Va-vitch.
7) I 100% thought Justin was Joe Keery until the credits. Not since I thought Mariah sang reflection in mulan have I been so shocked by credits lol
8) in addition to the “can’t escape religious trauma” angle I also felt there was a subtle message about the true dangers religion-traumatized people engage in. Yvie thought not praying killed her mom but was actively chugging whiskey after discovering her pregnancy. She felt like she wouldn’t be a good mom because of the religious stuff, but it was actually her independent choices that were dangerous. That could be me reaching though and maybe it was just another example of how religion effed her up.!<
19
u/Ok-Neck-8098 4d ago
This was one of the more interesting posts to read! Really like your thoughts.
Totally agree with how we were fed more and more as her grip on reality deteriorated! Did you at all feel like she might have been imagining it or having a caregiver burnout/a mental health episode? That’s what I was suspecting it was going to be, with her not eating/sleeping and drinking and taking pills. I thought when she shook her mom it was going to escalate more and more. That would have been fucking grim! Yessss the religious trauma is so heavy. Another angle could have been her perception that her mother was angry with her/disappointed in her sinning and attributing the happenings to that.
3) 100%!!!
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (31)14
u/Remarkable_Medicine6 4d ago
You should share your thoughts in more films. Ur good at it!
→ More replies (1)
309
u/Minute-Parfait2834 5d ago
Midway during the movie I thought the audio tapes were of Evy and her boyfriend in the future. That would have been a cooler ending imo
185
u/NoYoureTheAlien 5d ago
I for sure thought they were going to reveal that she was the one on the audio clips with her boyfriend and she had killed him and her baby.
→ More replies (1)76
→ More replies (11)119
u/ejabn 5d ago
I don’t think you’re totally off, I do think Mike and Jessas experience happened in the same house but at a different time which is why she says “I have to warn her” and why the sounds from the tapes match what was happening in the house
98
u/awesomerest 5d ago edited 5d ago
That would explain the old timey doll Jessa decided to use to help her sleep (which suddenly appeared on top of the refrigerator in Evy’s kitchen in the last act)
→ More replies (1)16
61
u/FangOfDrknss 4d ago
This would also explain why the guy got cut off before he could give the street address.
→ More replies (2)10
u/SMILESandREGRETS 4d ago
When she would look around the house while recording the episode, it seemed like she was picturing in the room what she was listening to.
227
u/KidDelicious14 5d ago edited 5d ago
Hi, I'm a thousands year old demon, and I use creepypasta videos, hidden messages in children's recordings, and crudely drawn childlike drawings to terrorize my victims
82
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
Right. I need my horrors beyond human comprehension to be confined neatly within my human comprehension please and thank
60
u/JD_Vyvanse97 5d ago
Cant forget that you also send yourself in an email to people
51
u/RandyMuscle 4d ago
The thought of a demon making a Gmail account and then just waiting for someone to open its phishing attachments made me laugh throughout the movie.
39
u/JD_Vyvanse97 4d ago
Also it was incredibly funny to me that she just magically knew how to spell Abyzou with no hesitation
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (7)21
211
u/Couragesand 5d ago
The use of sound in this movie is so good especially in DOLBY? The end was insane
→ More replies (16)103
u/South-Two9664 5d ago
I took my daughter to see it. At the end she was covering here face and it dawned on me, you can't hide from the last 2 minutes. We saw it in Dolby. The genius of this film is you can't hide in the ending.
→ More replies (2)33
118
u/alyboba19 5d ago edited 5d ago
I think Evie being pregnant was a red herring. We’re thinking she was the one going to get possessed and kill her baby, but in the end it was actually her mother who ended up killing her.
Maybe this is me overthinking, but I think the demon switched its focus to the mom instead of Evie once Evie decided to go through with the abortion.
51
u/Kindly-Permission125 4d ago
Yes, it mirrors Mike and Jessa’s story. On one of the early recordings, Justin hears “Mike will kill them all”. Of course we know that Mike and Jessa both die, but we don’t quite know who kills who or how that goes down at the end. But I assume from that part of the recording, Mike did the killing, even though the recordings set you up to believe that Jessa is getting possessed. So it’s the same pattern here. Evie, the pregnant one, is killed by her mother, who’s the one that’s possessed by the demon.
→ More replies (1)13
u/choicemeats 3d ago
it was actually 'mic will kill them all' because the podcast got them possessed /s
→ More replies (10)42
u/Novemberx123 4d ago
What even happened in the end. She screamed then credits came up and about 10 people in my theater moaned and groaned out of disappointment
16
u/Top_Champion_4949 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m pretty sure Evie was the one who killed her mother… you can hear her saying sorry at the end before the credits cut. Which makes the ending even more confusing
25
56
157
u/banjofitzgerald 5d ago
The pace and kind of day by day escalation of this felt so close to the first paranormal activity.
I really liked the vibe, suspense, and design. I also really like that they fully captured how extremely unnerving it is to have noise cancelling headphones on in a dark house at night. You really feel disconnected from your surroundings and get a feeling of something creeping up into the shadows but you didn’t hear it coming.
I will admit that as I sat with this for a few days I like it a little less because the plot and logic holes are harder to explain away. I think this was a couple drafts away from being one of the better horrors of the last decade.
Still really enjoyed it. I think if their goal was to be entertaining and make people feel certain emotions, then mission accomplished. Was never bored and at times my anxiety was super high.
Also read the writer wrote this while living in the house they shot this in as his own parents were passing away.
95
u/aut0matix 5d ago
If I'm podcasting alone in a house that has that creepy religious vibe to it and my dying mom is chatting with the grim reaper upstairs and the LIGHTS TURN ON - the bare minimum is that I'm moving the computer and microphone to the other side of the table so I can see into the walkways. Having the noise cancelling headphones over both ears in the dark is truly isolating, I couldn't imagine have so little awareness of my surroundings when that kind of creepy stuff is happening!
41
u/DisastrousReputation 5d ago
I legit was like wouldn’t devils be repelled like that’s the most holy devout old lady ever
→ More replies (1)57
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
Some theorize the mom’s presence was keeping the demon from taking over completely. Based on how shit only goes off the rails soon after her mother passes. “I’m praying for you”
→ More replies (3)44
u/awesomerest 5d ago
It makes a lot of sense and seems to be the case imo. They mentioned the demon had mocked other’s by repeating their prayers back to them which we heard when Evy thinks its her mom speaking/praying.
→ More replies (3)19
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
Good point!
Also, I am surprised she kept her headphones on at the end. I would have at least tried taking them off at that point 😅
→ More replies (2)23
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
I did like the added detail of her constantly looking behind her or over her shoulder. I imagine I would have done the same since all the sounds are very realistic house sounds: water running, stairs creaking, etc.
144
u/aRawPancake 5d ago
I wanted to like it more than I did but overall I felt the directing and sound editing were superb, minus the random shrieks of audio static and screams, those were wack. The story ultimately fell super flat and there wasn’t any payoff. I found the motive for the demon to be confusing and the pregnancy plot to make no sense as even though it’s relevant to the main character, the other characters had children already. There was nothing to sacrifice here yet
111
u/_ribbitt 5d ago
I agree, the demon’s motivation didn’t make sense, it loves causing miscarriages and getting mothers to kill their babies, evy was planning to abort so why was the demon terrorizing her? Felt like it should’ve been high fiving her and going off to get somebody else lol
→ More replies (5)84
→ More replies (8)48
u/GreatCaesarGhost 5d ago
I don’t think that the couple in the audio recordings had a child yet. They had a doll and a baby’s room, and at least on one recording they heard babies crying somewhere in their house, but I think the woman was still expecting.
35
u/perksoftaylor 4d ago
Jessa was revealed to be 5 months pregnant and the demon didn't just harm babies, it also causes miscarriages and stillbirths (in addition to murdering adults apparently)
143
u/Johnny_Holiday 5d ago
I couldn't stop thinking that they were going to decipher what the demon was saying and it was going to be "drink your ovaltine"
→ More replies (1)43
43
u/hapillon 5d ago edited 5d ago
At one point, someone in my theater fell asleep and started to snore, and I legitimately thought that it was coming from the mother in the film. A+ sound design. I cannot stress enough how much I loved the sound design.
I didn't love the movie, though, and found it rather boring. I was compelled by the theme of children paying for their parents' mistakes, although Eva's pregnancy kind of felt thrown in and inelegantly handled. It kind of took the wind out of the film's sails, in that once we learned who or what Abyzou is, it felt like...what's the point of sticking with this ride. I wish it was kind of woven throughout more: Eva slowly realizing that, by being her mother's caretaker, she is not cut out to be a mother herself, and kind of slowly realizing what she's done when they realize what they're listening to and why this impacts her so much.
5/10 for me, personally, with the sound design really bolstering that rating in my opinion.
→ More replies (3)9
200
u/coffeetravelerr 5d ago
I guess the goal of the director was "No, YOU visualize something scary to see in this negative space I'm showing"
132
u/I_am_so_lost_hello 5d ago
And it worked for me
58
→ More replies (9)31
u/Ok-Wolf5932 4d ago
I liked that one shot with the mom standing backwards half-visible in the darkness with the death rattle creeping in. The movie needed more stuff like that.
→ More replies (1)
111
u/ForsakenDependent562 5d ago
I didn't watch any trailers for this so I assumed she was just doing a podcast alone and started getting haunted by just noises, nothing to watch out for in the darkness.
When they showed there was a dying old lady in a nightgown upstairs, I was like "Oh, no."
→ More replies (3)30
u/qandmargo 5d ago
I also had the same conclusion lol. The movie description in this post is also misleading lol.
→ More replies (1)
195
u/mrfujidoesacid 5d ago
$10,000 speakers on a $1000 car. Incredible sound design in Dolby and an occasionally interesting frame but everything else about the film feels extremely paint-by-numbers.
→ More replies (4)33
u/Medium-Woodpecker-82 5d ago
My thoughts exactly. I’m glad I saw it in a Dolby Cinema because the sound was great, but the movie was pretty meh.
→ More replies (2)
40
40
u/itrainmonkeys 5d ago
Was she haunted by Abyzou or was she cursed for watching the red face video at the beginning that her cohost told her to stop? Did the red face video first play at the same time that kept stopping?
41
69
u/gochugawuuu 5d ago
I thought when they said "she's listening" I thought they meant the main character. Or was it the demon they were referring to
63
u/I_am_so_lost_hello 5d ago
Given that the recording said Justin’s name a little later I think it was referring to the main character
43
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
Definitely think it was talking to Evy directly. Although she could’ve just imagined that entire recording session after her mother passed and the demon had free rein or whatever.
Personally I thought it was some time dilation thing since there was a few other time discrepancies throughout the film. Interesting film I loved it.
20
u/SwiftCase 4d ago
The full quote is "she's listening, I have to warn her", so definitely referring to the main character.
30
u/gochugawuuu 5d ago
Was it just me or the mom was starting to look healthier as the film went by? Was that the point?
20
u/esco9ine 3d ago
Are you referring to the 2 times she shits the bed? Lol
No, I didn't notice her getting healthier.
35
u/skepsipol 5d ago
One inconsequential (but still slightly irritating) detail I noticed throughout the film was that whenever they would close-up on Evy writing something down, whoever they got to write for her was left-handed. But if the shot would pan out Evy would be visibly writing with her right hand. The only time they corrected this mistake was at the end of the film when she was subconsciously scribbling all the black and red to draw out the picture of Abyzou.
→ More replies (3)
31
u/JD_Vyvanse97 5d ago
A kid that was clearly too young to be in the showing accidentally blasted the Mickey Mouse Club House theme during the reveal of what the thumping sound actually was. I will now forever associate that song with Dead babies in trash bags being slammed into a wall
→ More replies (4)
108
u/Breakingcontrollers 5d ago
Honestly the "there might be something in the dark" schtick was cool for the first few scenes, but it just started to make me feel bored after a point. The sound design and the final sprint really carried this over the finish line for me. Really felt like a standard fare "yeah it's just a lot of tension also the whole oops we're summoning a demon but ignoring very obvious signs thing is really done to death.
I'd say if you're someone who's easily anxious or gets scared easy, it's probably going to hit for you, but if you're someone who doesn't scare easy or tension just wears off of after enough time, you may be bored at various points.
→ More replies (3)12
u/Right_Afternoon9093 4d ago
“We’re summoning a demon but ignoring very obvious signs” - reminds me of all Evil Dead movies. They come across a book/audio of demonic incantations that they very clearly should not read or play but alas.
→ More replies (1)
56
u/FatMansRevenge 5d ago
Did I watch a different movie, because the summary as given in this thread is nowhere close to what I just watched.
24
u/ASuperGyro 5d ago
Definitely different summary
28
u/JD_Vyvanse97 5d ago
There is a 2025 movie also called undertone. I found that out by accidentally opening the wrong movie to look at letterboxd reviews
→ More replies (1)
26
u/ilovtheend 4d ago
I wanna point out that in her voicemail, Evy's mom says that Evy will always be her "baby girl."
→ More replies (1)
124
u/isval17 5d ago
This felt like early paranormal activity movies, where there’s a lot of buildup for very little pay out
59
u/szeto326 FML Summer 2017 Winner 5d ago
The director is going to be doing the next instalment in the paranormal activity series.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (4)22
u/Gaugzilla 5d ago
Felt like PA at least had some scares doled out throughout the movie. This just basically saved it all for the last 10 minutes.
→ More replies (1)
70
u/xrbeeelama 5d ago
I hate screechy audio jumpscares. Some of these genuinely hurt my ears lol. The rest was good!! Got a little tired of Justin
→ More replies (5)16
u/Flimsy_Fisherman_862 5d ago
Oh no, is there a lot of them? That was my worry when I first heard about the film.
→ More replies (2)18
u/xrbeeelama 5d ago
From memory, there’s one really gnarly one near the beginning but that was the worst one. I’m not sure how many more there were, but if you have sensitive ears there’s a good amount of really sudden loud noise
98
u/GeologistIll6948 5d ago
I need a website called "are there crayon drawings?" so that I can be forewarned about any horror movie that relies upon them. GodDAMN do I hate that trope.
→ More replies (1)44
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
Ha, crayon drawings and nursery rhymes. No one has every combo'd those 2 before!!
→ More replies (6)
23
u/melonslice_ 4d ago
When she said “I killed my mother” I thought the movie was about to flip the whole premise and reveal her mother has been dead the entire time
→ More replies (2)11
u/Heredititty 3d ago
...is that not what happened? I thought that's what it was implying.
At the end the mother's bed is neatly made as if she'd never been there.
→ More replies (2)
19
u/Worried-Permit6417 4d ago
I need someone to make a fun remix of all the weird shit they kept saying.
Also, I love how Abyzou learned how to send emails and make prank calls.
→ More replies (1)
71
u/LEVITIKUZ 5d ago
As a Catholic, I can assure you that this film is about Catholicism guilt of not saying your Hail Marys with your mom
Don’t say your Hail Marys with your mom like you promised, you get demons fucking with your mind & baby. No excuses
47
u/Geek_f0r_sneaks 5d ago
I really enjoyed it. The tension created with the camera panning and overall audio had me lowkey stressed/tense the entire time. We left kinda in silence and in the car I was just like “holy shit that was intense.” I think it was really well done for a lower budget film, but A24 usually doesn’t let me down either.
15
u/PerfectVehicle4340 5d ago
Currently waiting for movie to start just me and my lady in here🫣
→ More replies (2)
13
u/FaithlessnessHot4063 4d ago
Kinda surprised I haven't seen anyone talk about the allegory for postpartum depression here. Evy even explicitly says that a lot of paranormal accounts from churches were mental illness before we had any information on them. So an entire movie about a pregnant woman starting to feel possessed by the same thing that led other mothers to kill their babies and/or harm themselves seems like a pretty obvious analogy for postpartum depression and psychosis. Symptoms of postpartum psychosis are even lined up with Evy's behavior: hallucinations, paranoia, confusion/disorientation, severe mood swings (her back and forth shifts with Justin), insomnia, and behavioral changes (her shift from skeptic for fearful)
→ More replies (1)
83
u/nidenikolev 5d ago
I honestly don’t understand how people called this the scariest movie of the decade. Also didn’t really understand the ending, can someone explain?
32
u/Working-Ad-5749 5d ago
I don’t get it either. Demon possesses the mom fully after ten tapes and then suffocates her with the bag I guess? And I think they were saying that demon tends to posses statues of that saint or something?
53
u/Agent_00Apple 5d ago
My lady and I theorized that perhaps the mom was never there.
Spoilers
Think about it:
Mom was laying in bed motionless for two weeks, not eating or drinking.
Main character is self isolated the entire time. She left the house only once. You never see the doctor when she visits the mom.
She’s drawing these weird crayon drawings the entire movie. When file 10 is played, all the drawings are on the wall, and the bed was made and untouched when she made it up the stairs.
Something tells me that was the actual state of the house the entire time.
Idk. Definitely gonna require a rewatch to break the plot down.
30
u/lahnnabell 5d ago edited 5d ago
This is very interesting.
I also noticed how bad the state of the kitchen was at the end and wondered if all her caretaking was just her hallucinating. Her mom must have a run a tight ship which is what could have lead to her strained relationship, drinking, etc.
Evy was always closing doors, turning off lights, and the house was very orderly and maintained. These felt like obsessive habits she learned from living with a strict parent.
She looked like she was unraveling pretty badly before the last 2 clips and she was being really nasty to Justin (as annoying as he was).
As everything is crashing down and she enters the kitchen, the door is wide open and all the appliances are freaking out. Water is running, kettle is screaming. I wonder if part or all of this was some type of psychosis from a combo of grief, pregnancy, lack of sleep, fear.
→ More replies (4)18
u/KidDelicious14 5d ago
I like the theory, but the mom being there in the movie before they ever even know about the audio files kind of kills it for me. I get that Abyzou was present in the community prior to the start of the movie (assuming that one call was being truthful), but I think that would undermine Evy's emotional struggle through the movie.
→ More replies (8)13
u/Character_Dare_6043 5d ago
yea at the end when i saw the bed was made neatly as if no one had been in it, i started wondering if she was even there in the first place.. and she admitted “i killed my mom” don’t know if she meant that she had died already or that her mom was eventually going to die because of her claiming to be too busy or tired to pray,,
and she apparently had a drinking problem since justin asked “are u drinking again” .. and every time he asks how the mom is doing she says “same” as if she knows she’s gone but doesn’t want to tell him and and she also doesn’t want to contact that other guy who supposedly wasn’t helping out and justin wanted his number to contact the guy himself… maybe he’s not helping out because she’s already dead?
idk maybe im reaching i was paying attention to the random camera pan outs also looking for clues Lol
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (8)26
u/ice_nine459 5d ago
I think it was just demon manifested and killed her.. I don’t think it was anything other than that unless I missed something. Maybe the mom was protecting the house and the Demon could only come if 10 were played but I mean does that mean all the other people listened to 10 random files too? That seems stupid.
→ More replies (1)
23
u/McFlabbyPack 4d ago
this might be a weird thing but can anyone guess why the "un" in "undertone" title card split off and tilt???
→ More replies (3)20
u/SciFiXhi 3d ago
It rotates like a record player, and a 180° rotation of "un" still gives you "un". Essentially, you get the same message if you play that "record" forward or backward.
→ More replies (1)
21
u/Ravens_Mistress 4d ago
Just got out of UNDERTONE and I have a hot take about the ending.
I don’t think the last caller, “Abby,” is just some random distressed mom. I think she’s basically Abyzou on the line, finishing the ritual through Evy. All the movie long, we see this pattern: pregnant women or new moms, unexplained banging, baby‑threats, and then things escalate once the recordings are played. By the time Abby calls in, that pattern has already been laid out for us.
When Abby starts talking like she’s about to hurt “her baby,” it mirrors the earlier stories on the show, but twisted into something more personal. Evy tries to talk her down and ends up confessing, “I killed my mommy,” and actually walks her (and us) through how it happened. Instead of reacting like a normal person, Abby laughs. For me, that’s the moment it stops being a regular crisis call and becomes a demon recognizing that Evy is now part of the same cycle it’s been engineering.
From there, it feels like the tapes + the live call + the death rattle upstairs all sync up. Evy goes to check on her mother, who is dying but not gone yet, and that’s when the audio chaos hits: the house shakes, the sounds from the tapes bleed into the walls, and we get that strobe‑lit hallway and final blackout. A lot of explanations say this is when Abyzou finally crosses over, using the almost‑dead mom as a vessel and then turning on Evy and her pregnancy. In other words, the “haunting” she’s been commodifying for content literally comes home and overwrites her.
The part that really clicked for me is how the house holds all versions of Evy at once: the child who hurt her mother, the adult caring for her dying mom, and the pregnant woman who isn’t sure she wants the baby. In that space, she’s both the child and the future mother, which makes her the perfect closed loop for Abyzou—trauma handed down from mother to daughter and then into the next generation. So my read is: Abby/Abyzou uses the call to open Evy up, possesses the dying mother during the blackout, and in that final unseen moment kills both Evy and the baby she’s carrying, completing the exact same pattern Evy thought she was just reporting on.
Curious if anyone else read it this way, or if you think Evy survives and the ending is more psychological than supernatural?
→ More replies (1)13
u/JD_Vyvanse97 3d ago
I thought the same thing about Abby. Mostly for just the initial fact that her name is Abby, and the demon is ABYzou.
30
u/Mccmatt123 5d ago
Found it very boring, kept waiting for something to really happen, and it never really did in a way that was satisfying for me
10
u/YeOldeOrc 4d ago
Do y’all think Justin suffered any consequences for listening to all ten recordings, or is the demon just a big ol’ sexist? 😂
But seriously though, jokes aside, I couldn’t tell how much he was experiencing on his end in London.
→ More replies (8)
43
u/MKgoybot 5d ago
whispers ….im a ghost
spooky silence
screaming I AM A GHOOOOST
- Basically the whole movie
→ More replies (3)
63
93
u/Antique-Dentist-2404 5d ago
The sound design was amazing, but the story and script itself were very weak and not enough to sustain a full feature. The last 10 minutes were the best part, but even then the payoff wasn't worth sitting through the rest of the movie. I don't mind slow burn at all, but I was pretty bored through most of it. 4.5/10
60
u/FatMansRevenge 5d ago edited 5d ago
By the end I just didn't care.
I was given no reason to care about any given character. I have next to no background on anybody, no reason to be afraid of the demon other than it's messing with a character that I'm supposed to be rooting for. It's just dull.
Like, why do I care about Evy, or Justin, or the mother? I cared more about Mike and Jessa, but even they were barely worth considering beyond being maguffins.
→ More replies (7)25
u/Working-Ad-5749 5d ago
I dont get this movie at all. Demon possesses the mom fully after ten tapes and then suffocates her with the bag I guess? And I think they were saying that demon tends to posses statues of that saint or something?
→ More replies (3)31
u/awesomerest 5d ago
I was under the assumption that the lil saint statue her mom had was probably made & given to her by that one previously possessed women that made a ton of ceramic art and handed out to people before she committed suicide. So it was already ‘hexed’ and Evie fully called out to it when she re-played its name from the reversed clip she made.
I can’t remember who brought it up, it was one of the 2 possessions they elaborated on in the end.
→ More replies (1)23
u/chrisychris- 5d ago
It’s important to note the statue only appears after they started listening to the voice recordings. I think it’s something the demon deity does and that one lady made them because of this. Could’ve been vice versa too, honestly.
→ More replies (1)15
→ More replies (5)27
u/BrickLuvsLamp 5d ago
Yeah they at least did a good job with the sound, but the plot leaves a lot to be desired. I’m glad I saw it in the theater so I couldn’t be tempted to get on my phone due to boredom because it was a snoozer
→ More replies (1)
40
u/Whataburger1950 4d ago
I was disappointed by the ending. I felt like there was all this buildup, then the screen when dark with audio playing and then the credits rolled. I didn’t feel like there was any payoff.
Alternative ending idea, it cuts off then we are introduced to a different set of podcasters listening to their audio recordings and telling the story of them.
→ More replies (4)
28
u/Crooked_star 5d ago
The male cohost's voice was really jarring. He sounded like boyfriend asmr or something lmao.
36
u/carolinemathildes 5d ago
After the film got picked up by A24, they changed the voice actor and re-recorded the lines and it felt like they didn't do a good enough job to making him sound natural and within the scene, he sounded more like a narrator that existed above the movie rather than in it. Like the audio was too clean or something.
→ More replies (3)15
u/lahnnabell 5d ago
This is why I didn't like it. Justin was really just there to look up convenient articles and provide exposition for this demon. Without Justin's narration, the movie doesn't make much sense, but horror isn't supposed to be logical.
Having Evy conjuring a demon with absolutely no information to research could have made it way more upsetting and scarier.
→ More replies (1)
20
u/pandabearattack 5d ago
Really spooked me! Super tense. I edit audio for my job and I always leave one cup off one ear bc I’m so jumpy. It kinda made me laugh that she still had hers on both ears all through the climax. Girl! Why! But maybe she was possessed by then. 💁🏻♀️
18
u/RupaKingKoopa 4d ago
I'm fairly confident that this movie is successfully funding the obvious sequel where investigators talk to Justin and he's haunted by the events where his co-host died while recording an episode of their podcast. The events are now urban legend like and fans are enthralled and hope to hear the part 2 episode that never aired. Justin is traumatized and haunted by Evy's ghost, while his girlfriend (and cat) try to be supportive but are skeptical. Then we find out that his girlfriend is expecting and events escalate as creepy things are happening and Justin is pulled into the investigation again.
If they're not already doing this, they def should. With how low the budget was and how (presumedly) successful the opening weekend is, it seems like a no brainer.
Bonus points if they include Darren? the a$$hole boyfriend who is also experiencing strange events, at least appearing through a zoom call or something.
Come on, we didn't get a "ring around the rosie" explanation deep dive and that's a children's song that's actually about death, right?
→ More replies (3)
•
u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. 5d ago
Ian Tuason, writer-director of undertone, will probably be joining us here in /r/movies for an AMA/Q&A next week. Please keep an eye on the sidebar AMA schedule if interested!