Undertone (2026) Review — The Scariest Sounds You’ll Ever Hear

It’s 2:47 in the morning. The house is asleep. Everyone else is warm in their beds, and you — genius that you are — just decided this was the perfect time to start a new horror podcast with the headphones cranked.

At first there’s nothing. Static. Dead air. Then underneath it: breathing. Not yours. Not the host’s. Something low and wet, like a throat trying to remember how to form words. You turn it up. Bad idea. Now it’s clear — it’s saying your name. Or… no. It can’t be. You’re alone. The house is empty. But the voice keeps going, and somewhere behind your walls, the pipes knock back in perfect rhythm.

You pause the episode. The voice doesn’t stop.

Okay. Deep breath. Probably a glitch. Corrupted audio. That’s what Evy would tell you — she’d laugh in your face. Evy co-hosts a paranormal podcast and thinks the whole genre is a scam. At least, she did. Then the tapes arrived: a manila envelope, no return address, stuffed with recordings that were never supposed to exist, full of sounds that shouldn’t exist. And now those sounds are following her like a stray dog with too many teeth. Welcome to Undertone, the movie that asks: what if the scariest thing in horror isn’t what you see… but what you hear?

The Review

Here’s the setup, spoiler-light, the way your favorite horror host (me) likes it: Evy (Nina Kiri) is the resident skeptic of a paranormal podcast — the eye-roll half of the duo, the one who debunks everything with a smirk. Then life happens. She moves back home to care for her dying mother, and right on cue, a batch of terrifying audio recordings lands in her lap from an anonymous source. She presses play. The sounds get under her skin. Then they get out of the speakers. Then they start bleeding into her already-fragile reality. And that’s all you’re getting from me — the less you know walking in, the louder this one hits.

Let’s talk about what works, because there’s a lot. First: the sound design is the actual monster here. Writer-director Ian Tuason weaponizes audio — whispers buried in static, low frequencies that rattle your ribcage, long stretches of silence that dare you to relax. This is a headphones movie. Lights off. Volume up. Trust me, your neighbors will survive. Probably.

Second: Nina Kiri carries this whole haunted house on her back. Evy could have been a stock Final Girl with a microphone, but Kiri plays her as a real person — sarcastic, grieving, running on fumes. Her slow slide from smug debunker to terrified believer is the movie’s best special effect, and it didn’t cost a dime of that tiny budget. And Adam DiMarco, heard only as the voice of Justin, does a lot with a little — there’s something deeply unnerving about a voice on a recording that knows more than it should.

Third: Tuason directs like someone who’s been waiting his whole life to scare you. For a feature debut, the restraint is remarkable. He lets dread do the heavy lifting instead of tossing jump-scare confetti at the screen, and he turns limitations into atmosphere — one house, a pair of headphones, and the worst sounds you’ve ever heard.

What doesn’t work? The middle sags a little — there’s a stretch where the plot treads water and you’ll feel all 94 minutes. Gore-hounds, manage your expectations: this is dread, not splatter, so if you need viscera to have a good time, look elsewhere. And a couple of the podcast-banter scenes play a touch broad. But honestly? They’re fun. I’ll allow it.

The bottom line: Undertone is the rare horror movie that understands fear is something you hear in the dark, not something you see in the light. It got picked up by A24 out of its Fantasia premiere, turned half a million dollars into $21.6 million, and earned every penny by getting under your skin and staying there. Put the headphones on. You know you want to.

Trivia & Facts

• Written and directed by Ian Tuason — his feature directorial debut.
• Stars Nina Kiri as Evy, with Adam DiMarco as Justin in a voice-only role.
• The title is stylized in all lowercase: “undertone.”
• Premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival in July 2025.
• Released in US theaters by A24 on March 13, 2026.
• Budget: $500,000. Worldwide box office: $21.6 million — the little cursed tape that could.
• Runtime: 94 minutes. Rated R.
• Genre: A24 auditory / sound-design horror. Headphones strongly recommended.

Harper’s Extras

• Best experienced with good headphones and the lights off. This is not a “fold laundry while you watch” movie.
• New to the crypt? Dig through the Think Horror wiki for deep dives into horror’s weirdest corners.
• More of a “nature fights back” horror fan? Sink your teeth into my Primate (2026) review — when man’s best friend bites back.
• Fun party trick: play the trailer’s audio for a friend, then ask what they heard. Then watch them sleep with the lights on for a week.

Where to Watch

Undertone (2026) hit US theaters on March 13, 2026, courtesy of A24, and is now available on digital rental and purchase. Which is perfect, honestly — this is a movie you want to watch alone, in the dark, with the volume way, way up. You know. For science.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Undertone (2026) based on a true story?

No — Undertone is an original story written by Ian Tuason. No cursed tapes were harmed in the making of this film. (That we know of.)

Where can I watch Undertone (2026)?

After its US theatrical run with A24, Undertone (2026) is available on digital rental and purchase.

Who directed Undertone (2026)?

Undertone was written and directed by Ian Tuason, marking his feature directorial debut.

What is Undertone (2026) about?

A paranormal podcast host — a proud skeptic — is haunted by a batch of terrifying audio recordings from an anonymous source, and the sounds start bleeding into her already-fragile reality.