Movie review
March 12, 2026 · 94 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Not currently streaming in United States
Review
undertone follows Evy, a paranormal podcast host caring for her dying mother in her childhood home, who receives mysterious anonymous audio recordings that pull her into a demonic haunting. The story blends personal grief, guilt, and isolation with supernatural terror delivered mainly through sound design and found audio. First-time director Ian Tuason drew from his own real-life experience as a caregiver for his parents during their illness to shape the emotional core.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for undertone.
Woke representation / casting
Lead actress Nina Kiri plays the central competent podcast host and caregiver in a modern setting; supporting cast includes some ethnic diversity but it remains incidental, unemphasized in marketing or story, and justified by plot logic rather than identity signaling or quotas.
Woke political dialogue
No explicit political, activist, DEI, or identity-based dialogue; conversations focus on podcast topics, family caregiving, personal guilt, and supernatural audio events.
Identity-driven story themes
Core elements involve individual grief over a dying parent, repressed guilt, denial, and supernatural haunting through audio recordings of another family’s trauma; these function as personal emotional and horror drivers without broader identity politics or group-based messaging.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Personal faith elements, guilt, and family dynamics appear in a horror context but are not reframed into modern activist critiques of patriarchy, institutions, capitalism, or cultural norms.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is an original story with no established characters, source material, or historical figures altered for identity or DEI reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No significant public complaints or backlash accused the film of pushing woke, DEI, identity politics, or left-wing messaging; discussions stayed on horror effectiveness and technical aspects.
Creator track record context
Key creatives including writer-director Ian Tuason and producers from Black Fawn Films have careers focused on horror genre craft and personal storytelling; no public history of activist, identity-driven, or social-justice work from any involved party.
