Undertone

It certainly is in Undertone. The reason we get so scared when we hear something go bump in the night isn’t because we know what’s lurking in the darkness, but because we don’t — and, with only an unidentified sound to go off of, our minds tend to fill in the blank with the most frightening possibilities. Debuting writer/director Ian Tuason understands this as well as any filmmaker working today, as his audio-forward horror film Undertone relies almost entirely on sound to terrify anyone brave enough to see — and hear — it.

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The film follows Evy (Nina Kiri) as she records an episode of her paranormal podcast The Undertone along with her remote co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco), doing so in the dead of night as her dying mother lies comatose upstairs. Crosses, statuettes, and other religious iconography adorn her childhood home; anyone familiar with the genre knows that such symbols can only portend spiritual unrest. Tuason’s spartan filmmaking evinces a less-is-more ethos, with Evy confined to a single setting that’s never less than creepy in the half-light provided by a few lamps here and there.

Evy and Justin aren’t especially efficient podcasters, as it takes them several days to record a single episode and have to remind one another to stay in character on a regular basis. Their dynamic is essentially the podcast equivalent of Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, with her playing the skeptic and him acting as the true believer. (This appears to be their natural inclinations, but they play it up for the sake of the show.) The subject of their latest episode is a series of audio files emailed to Justin anonymously that, for the sake of authenticity, neither of them listens to in advance — they want their recorded reactions to be as authentic as possible.

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Kiri, whom you might recognize from her portrayal of Alma in The Handmaid’s Tale, more than carries her own in what’s essentially a solo performance. Just as we see but don’t hear Evy’s mother, we hear but don’t see Justin — he and every other character appear only as off-screen voices. Tuason’s script calls on her to make plot beats that could have easily been ridiculous feel sinister instead, which she manages with apparent ease.

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On the audio files are recordings of an expecting couple whose interactions start out lighthearted as Mike (Jeff Yung) attempts to prove to Jessa (Keana Lyn Bastidas) that she talks in her sleep. She does, of course, but that isn’t all we hear. “London Bridge Is Falling Down,” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and other nursery rhymes are frequently heard in the background, sometimes in reverse, which leads Justin to insist that there are hidden messages in not only the songs but in the files themselves. Listened to just right, he argues, doesn’t one reversed section of “London Bridge” sound a lot like “Mike kill all”?

Undertone relies almost entirely on sound to terrify anyone brave enough to see — and hear — it.

Undertone is never scarier than when cinematographer Graham Beasley trains the camera on Evy’s face as she listens with her noise-canceling headphones before slowly panning away from her. Our eyes naturally focus on the darkness behind her, seeing or perhaps just imagining some out-of-focus shape in the dark, blurry background. The more she listens to Justin’s theories about nursery rhymes and the audio files’ possible connection to a folkloric demon, the less certain she becomes that it’s all nonsense.

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You might find yourself doubtful as well. The climax, which is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project in the way it leaves logic behind and fully immerses us in its nightmarish world, was so scary it gave me goosebumps and reminded me of what makes the movie so special in the first place. Closing your eyes isn’t enough to prevent Undertone from scaring the hell out of you — you’ll have to cover your ears, too.