Arguably the hottest horror title at this year’s ongoing Sundance Film Festival is undertone, an audiophile’s nightmare that follows a podcast host caring for her dying mother.
The setup is that the host receives 10 strange audio recordings of a young pregnant couple experiencing paranormal noises… and they’re horrific.
And while the “deeply unsettling” horror film is set to premiere tonight, the malevolent presence from undertone is already haunting audiences across the fest.
I just received a chilling audio message that says, “It wants to be heard,” confirming this is a viral stunt for undertone, and it gave me a blistering patch of goodbumps (and scared the shit out of my 5-year-old, who was standing in the room).
“I like it here in the dark,” the scratchy voice growls.
We attended the film’s World Premiere at last July’s Fantasia Film Festival, where Mary Beth McAndrews wrote: “Thanks to incredible sound design and a stellar lead, undertone is a deeply unsettling horror experience that treads familiar ground but still manages to surprise you.”
The film from Slaterverse Pictures and Black Fawn Films marks the feature film debut of writer/director Ian Tuason and stars Nina Kiri (The Handmaid’s Tale, Michèle Duquet (The Virgin Suicides), and Kris Holden-Ried (The Umbrella Academy). It has been so well-regarded that Blumhouse has tapped Tuason to direct the next Paranormal Activity and has been in discussions for several other major projects.
But first, undertone, a gets-under-your-skin chiller that’s built heavily on sound design and delivers a few solid punches. Here’s the trailer: it just wants to be heard.
A24 will release it in theaters on March 13, 2026.
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