Review: undertone

Synopsis: The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.

What We Thought:

I can’t say undertone was disappointing because I didn’t expect much from it, but it’s definitely a film I will completely forget exists in a short time period. I don’t mind smaller movies with filmmakers and casts I’m not familiar with that try something different, but it should still be a complete movie that entertains and not leaves you scratching your head afterwards.

By the end of the movie I didn’t feel like it said what it needed to say. I think the ending actually made the movie worse by not really explaining itself or at least completing the story. You should never walk out of a movie more confused than when you walked in.

The movie itself is about a podcast duo recording some new episodes. You only hear the male character with almost the entire movie being focused on the lead actress. It’s predominantly a single character/single location flick. I say predominantly because the lead does take care of her dying mother who you do see, but the majority of the movie is about the podcast host. The male voice is given a file with audio recordings that the pair analyze and try to understand what’s happening.

This is the biggest issue with the movie, as the pair listen in, analyze, reverse and try to hear and find what’s within the audio files, things are happening with the female lead and her mother. Was listening to the files what opened the supernatural things happening? Was it the same house and the files were older? Did I completely miss the explanation? If it explained itself I didn’t get it.

I’m not the right audience for undertone in the first place. Supernatural horror does nothing for me, but usually the acting can hold my attention or the story can be good enough to work. Unfortunately I got nothing out of the movie and left the theater not understanding what happened. I’ll give it credit for trying something, but that’s all I can say positively about it.