Undertone may be the most scared I've been in the cinema in a long time, and that is all down to one detail. This movie is simply a perfect example of incredible tension building and anticipation. So much so that, at some crucial moments, it feels as if you can't even blink; something is always on the horizon, yet just out of reach.
Before I talk about the content of this movie, I want to take a moment to highlight the budget. This movie was made for an estimated $500,000. While that may sound like a lot of money, any movie can be classed as 'low budget' if it cost up to $15 million. Still not enough? Robert Downey Jr. was paid approximately 200x this movie's budget to play Dr Doom in both Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Of course, it's easy to see how this was so cheap - its all set within one house, there's only five consistent cast members, three of which are voice only roles, and a lot of what goes on is off-screen, so there's very limited visual effects; however, this could possibly prove as an example of a movie not needing a high budget to succeed, and if this does succeed and make a good enough profit, we could see many more smaller artists be trusted by big companies, as it may not be as much of a risk money-wise.
Anyway, its time for me to actually speak on the movie itself. Firstly, and the biggest thing about this, is the anticipation. This movie is a masterclass in tension-building and keeping the audience hooked without giving anything away at all. The main way they achieve this is by focusing so deeply on things that we don't see, rather than what we do. They manage this in two very interesting ways.
The first, and most obvious due to the movie's premise, is that they play with sound. Almost all of the 'horror' elements, we never even see. Its all just audio recordings, allowing our minds to run wild with possibilities of what could be happening. They're very careful to only give us the information that could fill in unnecessary blanks without giving away any clues - like Jessa's doll. The sound design is also spectacular in terms of Evy's headphones. Whenever she puts them on, the entire world goes silent, so any outside noise we hear - or even think we might hear - is exactly what we're supposed to be listening to.
Second, they play with empty space very well. Almost all of the time, Evy is framed to the side, with nothing but darkness behind her. We're forced to constantly be checking in the darkness or in the background, our minds often playing tricks on us and wondering if there may be something lurking - pulling us into this sense of paranoia. This all means that, even though the sound is so much more important and prominent, the images still play a vital part and are always necessary.
One thing I loved about this story is the connection between every single little moment. Throughout, we're told of these different stories which, seemingly, only have the connective tissue of this demon called Abyzou. Throughout, we come to learn that all these, seemingly somewhat insignificant, stories are actually small parts of Evy's real unfolding events. Even the tiniest of details, like her watching the 'I Feel Wonderful' video at the start - which I'm completely sure everybody chalked up to simply Evy teasing her podcast cohost, and the movie using playful banter to sell you the relationship between these two - ended up returning in a big way near the end.
This movie does something that I found really interesting, where, rather than building anticipation until an eventual payoff, it feels as if the anticipation is the payoff, in some way. Of course, it does all culminate in an eventual finale, however the main event is all 'shown' to us through sound. This is both a perfect encapsulation of the whole movie leading up to this point, as well as only giving us more to ponder over as we leave the cinema, imagining just how gruesome these screams could be. The beauty of this is that it is anything you want it to be - within reason.
No AI was used in writing this article.