A24 Undertone

A24 undertone 💻 (2026)

Some movies show you the scares. Others tell you what to fear. And then there’s A24’s UNDERTONE, a film that lets every sound and every image quietly get under your skin, convincing you something might be waiting just around the corner.

And that’s exactly what makes it one of the most haunting cinematic experiences of early 2026.

The film stars Serbian-Canadian actress Nina Kiri (The Handmaid’s Tale) as a podcast host working remotely while caring for her dying mother.

For an upcoming episode, her co-host sends over a series of files he received anonymously, recordings of a pregnant couple’s paranormal encounters. But the deeper she gets into them, the more unsettling the connection becomes. Their story starts to mirror her own reality… and as each episode unravels, so does she.

UNDERTONE feels like being a fly on the wall inside someone else’s slow-burning, hair-raising, haunted nightmare.

What it may lack in storytelling depth, it more than makes up for in pure atmosphere. The tension is constant, suffocating. I was locked in, but this definitely won’t be for everyone.

Horror loves its ghosts, its haunted houses, its religious dread, but this is the kind of film that actually nudges the genre forward. The use of an internet curse and creepypasta-style storytelling weaves technology into the experience without letting it take over. It’s subtle, and it works.

Technically, the film does a great job of pulling your fear of the unknown right to the surface.

A lot of that comes from its use of folklore, specifically Abyzou, a mythological female demon said to prey on pregnant women and newborns out of jealousy, and the way it corrupts familiar comforts, like nursery rhymes, into something deeply unsettling.

These aren’t lullabies, they are warnings. Seriously, go look one up and google the ‘real’ meaning behind any of them. It made a believer out of me lol.

Now, I can already see some people feeling like the ending is… abrupt. But for me, it worked. It felt like those internet troll videos that lull you into a false sense of calm before hitting you with a sudden scream. Jarring, but completely in line with everything the film is building toward. Because the fear here isn’t about payoff, it’s about anticipation. That constant, nagging feeling that something is coming. You just don’t know when. And when it finally does hit, it’s not a release, it’s that sinking drop in the pit of your stomach.

Seeing might be believing, but this film proves that hearing can be just as terrifying.

What I’m not into? The fact that I’m now going to second-guess every random noise I hear for the next few days. And yeah, forget headphones after this. Okay, that’s a lie. I’ll still wear them at the gym tomorrow morning. But trust me, you’ll get it after you watch this. 

Enjoy!

7.3/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 1hr33mins

Where: Now Playing In Theatres

The Richmond Reviewer A24 Undertone Review - March 13th, 2026.

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