Undertone centres around Evy (Nina Kiri) and Justin (Adam DiMarco – Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen), spending several weeks recording a podcast, which is basically just listening to weird audio, often with backwards versions of “London Bridge is falling down” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep“, and other weird noises thrown in.
And I DO hate the phrase, “listen wherever you get your podcasts“. I don’t. Stop it. EVERY fucker’s got a podcast, these days. And this one could’ve summed up all their audio in a couple of shows, not dragging it out endlessly.
Of the pair, only Evy is ever on camera, who also attends to her sick mother (Michèle Duquet), who is constantly bedridden and sleeping. She must wake up, as Evy brings her food and drink every now and then, but she’s never shown getting out of bed.
Maybe some Feargal Sharkey would get her going?
Alas, Undertone is ‘Things that go yawn in the night’.
Maybe if you enjoyed 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, you’d like this, but for all that film’s hype, I found it was all mouth and no trousers. Undertone is equally disappointing. It has some funky audio – as we hear some of the recordings played out, including one that sounded like someone on the left-hand side of the audience had a horrible, hacking cough, but no, it was part of the film – but overall, it’s a mystery in search of an answer that never came.
Odeon Trafford Centre showed this in screen 12, which has a number of projection issues, but it’s a 1.85:1 screen that seems to play that aspect ratio fine, yet 2.39:1 films are overscanned. In this case, it looked like Undertone’s odd 2.12:1 aspect ratio was placed within a 2.39:1 container, which means that if you were watching on a 2.39:1 widescreen, the film would reach the top and bottom of the screen, but with some partial black bars at the side.
So, that’s a GOOD thing for how the film has been presented by the studio, since 2.39:1 are the majority of cinema screens in general – outside of IMAX, so at least the film is not like a postage stamp, as you find with Mercy, They Will Kill You and Project Hail Mary.
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Undertone is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 94 minutes
Release date: April 10th 2026
Studio: Vertigo Releasing / A24
Aspect ratio: 2.12:1 (ARRIRAW (4.5K))
Rating: 2/10
Director: Ian Tuason
Producers: Cody Calahan, Dan Slater
Screenplay: Ian Tuason
Music: Shanika Lewis-Waddell
Cast:
Evy: Nina Kiri
Justin: Adam DiMarco
Mama: Michèle Duquet
Jessa: Keana Lyn Bastidas
Mike: Jeff Yung
Darren: Ryan Turner
Dr. Ram: Ari Millen
Nurse: Marisol D’Andrea
Caller 1: Austin Tuason
Caller 2: Seled Calderon
Caller 3: Bianca Nugara
Caller 4: Jayda Woods
Abby (Caller 5): Sarah Beaudin
Meditation Voice: Christina Notto
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.