Undertone [Review]: A24’s Unsettling Horror Film That Gets Under Your Skin

A24’s latest horror film leans heavily on sound, tension, and unsettling spiritual themes that may leave some viewers deeply uncomfortable.

By Klep Napier | Wearecritix.com

Sometimes horror movies scare you. Sometimes they disturb you. And sometimes they do something even stranger. They make you question whether you even want to be experiencing what you’re hearing or seeing at all. In this Undertone review, I break down A24’s latest horror film directed by Ian Tuason and why its audio-driven storytelling creates such an unsettling experience.

The experience we're describing comes from the latest horror entry from A24 directed by Ian Tuason. I’m not going to play around here. There was a moment during this film where I nearly walked out of the theater. Not because it was bad, but because it genuinely got under my skin in a way that horror films rarely do for me anymore.

For someone who has watched a lot of horror over the years, that was a surprising feeling.

Continue reading or watch our FULL video review via Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpYUHIvL9A

The Story

The film follows Evy, played by Nina Kiri, a podcaster who hosts a horror-focused show alongside her colleague Justin, played by Adam DiMarco. Their podcast explores mysterious and unexplained events, often debating the line between skepticism and belief.

Their latest topic revolves around a disturbing set of ten audio recordings connected to a couple who mysteriously disappeared. The recordings capture strange events, cryptic conversations, and increasingly disturbing moments leading up to the couple’s disappearance.

As Evy and Justin analyze the tapes for their podcast, the recordings begin to reveal darker and more unsettling details. At the same time, Evy is dealing with a deeply personal struggle as her mother lies bedridden and nearing the end of her life due to an unexplained illness.

The deeper Evy dives into the recordings, the more uncomfortable things become not just for the characters, but for the audience listening along with them.

Sound Over Sight

What director Ian Tuason does here that really stands out is how he shifts the focus away from what you see and instead weaponizes what you hear.

Undertone is a film driven heavily by sound design. Much of the tension builds through audio rather than traditional visual scares. Tuason strips away the typical horror spectacle and replaces it with something far more subtle and unnerving.

One particularly effective technique involves Evy putting on her headphones while recording or reviewing podcast material. The moment the headphones go on, the outside world disappears. The film pulls you into a kind of audio isolation where all you hear are the tapes and the voices within them.

It creates an eerie void where the viewer feels cut off from their surroundings, just like the character.

And those tapes become increasingly disturbing.

The Unsettling Elements

As the recordings progress, they begin to introduce demonic chanting, ritualistic language, and cult-like behavior. What starts off feeling somewhat familiar slowly transforms into something far more uncomfortable.

I’ll be honest. These moments were difficult for me personally.

There’s something about the spiritual and demonic side of horror that can hit differently than traditional scares. Watching this film, I genuinely felt uneasy in a way that caught me off guard. At one point I found myself wanting to look away or shut my eyes because the audio alone felt so invasive.

It was a strange experience. For a moment, I even caught myself wondering if I was bringing something home from the theater that didn’t belong in my space.

Now everyone’s experience will be different. I know some viewers who thought the film was slow or even boring. But for me, it became an unexpectedly intense and almost spiritual viewing experience that I wasn’t fully prepared for.

Slow Burn Tension

Undertone definitely has slow moments, and there are stretches where the pacing may test the patience of some viewers.

But when the film decides to deliver its tension, it delivers.

Tuason’s camera work is deliberate and patient. The slow movements and ominous framing constantly leave you anticipating that something is about to happen. The film keeps you sitting in that uncomfortable space where you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And when paired with the immersive audio design, those moments can become incredibly effective.

A Familiar Narrative Device

Another interesting element in the film involves how the audio recordings themselves were created.

The tapes were originally recorded by one member of the couple as a kind of documented study of their increasingly strange experiences. As the recordings play back for Iy and Justin, we are essentially hearing the couple’s story unfold piece by piece.

The structure actually reminded me of the 2025 horror film Dream Eater, where audio documentation plays a major role in unraveling the narrative.

It was a subtle storytelling approach that added another layer of intrigue without giving too much away.

Final Verdict

Despite my personal discomfort while watching it, Undertone is a decent watch for horror fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling and psychological tension.

It may not work for everyone, and the pacing might turn some viewers away. But if you enjoy horror that leans into the spiritual, mysterious, and unsettling side of the genre, there’s definitely something here worth experiencing.

Just be prepared for a film that relies heavily on what you hear rather than what you see.

And in this case, that might be exactly what makes it so creepy.

Undertone arrives in theaters on March 13, 2026.