Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibilityundertone | 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Accessibility

Midnight

undertone

sd_star_fav_icon
Canada202593 minEnglish
undertone

The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.

+ More

The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.

Strained by the responsibility of providing end-of-life care to her dying mother, Evy (Nina Kiri) seeks respite from the loneliness of her fragmented reality. Now living in a house full of sentimental keepsakes and memories, her sanity and structure lies within her work on a supernatural podcast, The Undertone. While she usually plays skeptic to the creepy (and often disturbing) audio files sent to her by co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) for podcast fodder, the latest submission hits differently. A series of 10 unheard recordings from a young pregnant couple are unfurled one by one, each more ominous than the last. As Evy draws parallels to her current plight, hidden messages manifest, pushing her further toward madness.

Writer-director Ian Tuason’s debut feature is unsettling to say the least. Deceptively terrifying in its conceit, Evy’s solitude manifests itself as a visceral audio-visual landscape, where the ring of a cell phone creates just as much of a jump scare as any monster ever could. — AM

This film contains strobe effects.

Available in person only.

MidnightAll FeaturesFirst-Time FeaturesInternationalWomen-Centered StoriesDramaFictionHorrorThrillerClosed CaptionOpen CaptionPhotosensitivityU.S. Only- less

Credits

  • Director(s)

    Ian Tuason

  • Screenwriter

    Ian Tuason

  • Producer

    Dan Slater

    Cody Calahan

  • Cinematographer

    Graham Beasley

  • Composer

    Shanika Louis-Waddell

  • Editor

    Sonny Atkins

  • Production Designer

    Mercedes Coyle

  • Executive Producers

    Roy Lee

    Steven Schneider

    Chad Archibald

  • Principal Cast

    Nina Kiri

    Adam DiMarco

    Michèle Duquet

    Keana Lyn Bastidas

    Jeff Yung

  • Contact

    Shipra Gupta

    sgupta@a24films.com

Meet the Artist

Ian Tuason

    Ian Tuason is a Toronto-based writer-director and 2016 Watty Award winner. His virtual reality horror shorts gained 14 million YouTube views and screened at the Marché du Film NEXT Pavilion in Cannes. His debut feature, undertone — a paranormal horror inspired by his caregiving experience — was shot in his childhood home and sold to A24.

    You May Also Like

    Midnight
    sd_banner_img

    Buddy

    FilmUnFillFavIcon

    A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.

    (1hr 35mins)
    Episodic
    sd_banner_img

    Worried

    FilmUnFillFavIcon

    No one is more worried about Jules and Poppy than Jules and Poppy.

    (33min)
    Short Film Program
    sd_banner_img

    Callback

    FilmUnFillFavIcon

    Max arrives home to find that his boyfriend has booked a callback. All hell breaks loose.

    (16min)
    Episodic
    sd_banner_img

    The Screener

    FilmUnFillFavIcon

    An independent film screener leaks from a talent agency.

    (1hr 32mins)

    FESTIVAL HOST STATE

    Sponsor

    FESTIVAL HOST STATE

    FESTIVAL HOST STATE

    FESTIVAL HOST STATE