Some movies make you appreciate your job more. Consider Evy’s (Nina Kiri). The heroine of first-time feature director Ian Tuason’s Undertone hosts a podcast of the same name with a guy named Justin (a never-seen and just-heard Adam DiMarco) with whom she has Scully and Mulder-like chemistry. Sometimes broadcasted live, the show depends on them looking into supernatural cases often of the demonic variety. They always record around 3 a.m. Evy’s time to accommodate London-based Justin before he heads off to work. Much of their reporting relies on listener-submitted voicemails they’re unlikely to properly vet ahead of time, mostly so that they can document their instant reactions for luridly fascinated fans.

The pair’s approach seems bound for trouble, and the trouble dutifully comes in this new A24-backed horror movie where Evy and Justin suffer the consequences of playing with fire. Those consequences arguably take too long to properly announce themselves, though: Tuason metes out most of Undertone’s 94 minutes to dread-building, repetitively hovering expectantly around doorways that look like black holes and faucets that turn on by themselves. 

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Photo credit: A24