undertone (2026) Movie Review

Hello everyone and welcome to the concession stand here on the KB Radio Network.

I am your host Kevin Reed and this is the review of A24's new horror film

Undertone which is directed by first-time filmmaker Ian

Tewison. I believe I'm saying his name right and Undertone is about a host of a Paranormal

podcast who becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way the film stars nina carey who uh the only thing i ever saw her in previously was the handmaid's tale the

tv show that was on uh hulu and she's primarily the only character in this movie at least visually uh we we don't get to see Thank you.

Nobody else in this movie other than her mother,

who's comatose throughout the entire film,

doesn't speak and say nothing.

But there are other voice actors.

But as far as following a character,

she's the only one.

This film intrigued me.

Curiosity got the best of me when it came to Undertone.

Number one,

it was promoted as the scariest movie you ever hear.

And I'm like,

okay,

you know,

every year we get that one movie that's the scariest movie you've ever seen or whatever.

Always promoted.

And,

of course,

it's never that.

You never get that true horror film that would cause you to lose sleep at night.

Sleep with the lights on.

At least those of us who are horror film lovers.

But every year they always throw that out.

there and i guess this is the film of 2026 that they're promoting to be the scariest movie you ever heard now it was interesting that it was the scariest movie you ever heard not seen and so when you really think

about that statement i felt like okay maybe we're in store for something unique i will say this this is very very unique this is a

I wouldn't say 100%

original concept,

but it was done in a way that it felt original.

This was a really,

really good horror movie.

And it doesn't have blood and gore and monsters and demons running around and all this other foolishness.

What I really enjoyed about Undertone was the fact...

that they allowed your imagination to do all the work this was truly a film that wanted the audience to do the work it

didn't dumb it down for you it didn't uh a spoon feed you throughout the film like okay this is what you was hearing and all this other food no no no it it made your imagination do the work.

I really enjoyed that.

I enjoyed this movie.

This was a,

you know,

it's nothing that I would say in a few months towards the end of this year.

Like,

oh,

it's going to be one of the best films of the year or be on my list.

It could.

I don't know.

Who knows how the rest of this year plays out?

But it is definitely a unique horror film.

And now,

will I consider it the scariest movie I ever heard?

That's that's something that I have to weigh on a little while because I have to go through the filmography in my head that I've seen and think about it a little more.

But it's not that scary.

It's not scary in a sense of like tonight.

I'm not going to.

I don't I don't think

I don't think I'm going to lose any sleep.

But it.

it truly did play on the senses the the real star of this film is the sound design the the sound design in this movie was top notch top notch because when you're you're basically in

the uh pov of our protagonist the podcast host and

when she has her headphones on you you get to hear these recordings and everything but the way the sound design is made or structured it makes you feel like it's not only coming out of the headphones but it's like it's in the house and the way it was directed she

didn't know it felt like she was hearing it outside of her headphones you know like it was in stereo in certain points

And that's what a creep factor came in.

It really made it feel like these recordings were right next to you.

Like you was like it wasn't recordings like you was literally hearing these voices.

And that's what it was.

Voices.

It wasn't it wasn't like creepy demonic sounds.

Yeah.

You had some little voice modulations and stuff like that to make the voices sound deeper and certain.

points throughout the film but it's it's not like uh you hear monsters roaring or whatever or scratching at the at the door and that's that type of stuff it was really done in a creepy realistic way that

made it more creepy that made it more scary than it should have been it felt it felt so organic the way it was done um

Along with the sound design that deserves praise,

I got to give praise to the direction here.

It was directed really well.

I think that to say this was his first time,

his directorial debut in

Toulson,

I'm excited to see what he does next.

Which,

ironically,

it was announced that he will be directing the next Paranormal Activity movie.

Which,

you can see the...

no pun intended the undertones of that in this movie it it felt real paranormal activity ish but it to a different degree i'm not comparing it to any of those films that's a different animal but this this

will be exciting to see him take that property over and what he can do with that because he definitely can set the atmosphere for those for those type of movies and for that particular sub job.

it is perfect for that franchise so

I'm excited to see that but he did an excellent job here the one thing that I will say it tapered off at the end it started off strong it started off really good undertone it set

up everything that you needed to know going forward in the film we got the story of our main lead we got the story of the

the podcast and of the recordings and everything was set up i think in a really good well-paced way and then when we get to the end of this movie uh it it was a little unsatisfying that the ending did not satisfy um

and it didn't hit as hard as i i was hoping it to i see what he was trying to do there but it really felt like they had to wrap it up D-

You know,

like we had to wrap this movie up.

And it was just an abrupt because it was a slow burn.

It's a slow burn,

but a nice slow burn.

The movie doesn't drag per se because it's only about an hour and a half,

hour,

40 minutes,

something like that.

So it's a quick movie.

It's a quick watch.

It doesn't feel draggy,

but at points in the middle.

As we get in this story and everything's unfolding,

then when we get to the end,

you know,

the last 10,

15 minutes,

it was like boom,

And it wasn't like action,

you know,

it wasn't it wasn't any any monsters chasing her through the house or anything like that.

It was just

I don't know.

It wasn't as tense feel as the rest of the movie.

And you want the ending to be.

on steroids you know as as compared to the rest of the film as far as the tension and creep factor and it just didn't deliver there uh now i like the performance of uh the nia carrick i

think she was really good as the lead here uh aside from that everything else was just fine it was a really good movie i just wish the end was a little better a little better

But I'm not I'm not hate it.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with this film I thought it was just gonna be a kind of throwaway

indie horror film but i walked away feeling that this is one of the better horror films i've seen in a long time undertone gets a letter grade of a b minus yeah it was it was fine it was it was better than fine i'm super

happy with this movie i'm shocked i'm really shocked you know i wasn't expecting much i really wasn't and i was pleasantly pleasantly surprised

by this film i would like to know your opinions what did you think of undertone did you like it did you love it did you hate it did you despise it let me know email the show kbradiopodcast at gmail.com you can also search for this show on all social media platforms just search for the kb radio network also don't forget about youtube subscribe to the kb radio network channel and like this video if

If you don't mind,

don't forget about the five stars,

the reviews and sharing this show.

If you're listening on Apple podcast,

Spotify,

iHeartRadio,

wherever you are currently listening to the concession stand here on a KB radio network.

Everybody,

thank you for joining me for this review of Undertone.

Want you all to know that I love you.

Continue to love everyone.

And until we speak again,

you all be blessed.

undertone (2026) Movie Review

About this episode