‘Undertone’ Director Ian Tuason on Negative Space, Spirituality, and Letting Go
The year’s considerable horror breakout from the Filipino Canadian filmmaker Ian Tuason is as much about sound as it is about life and death. His debut feature, undertone, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival after being acquired by A24 following a premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal last July.
Written and directed by Tuason—who began his career making immersive, virtual reality horror shorts that gained 14 million YouTube views and screened at the Marché du Film NEXT Pavilion in Cannes—undertone follows Evy (Nina Kiri), an amateur podcaster on the outskirts of Toronto. She records with her remote co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), in the dead of night and stumbles upon strange recordings that may or may not contain demonic happenings.
Evy is largely isolated, acting as the caregiver for her ailing mother, who is on her deathbed. The emotional and physical exhaustion of caregiving unsettles Evy’s sense of self. As things begin to go bump in the night, both in her home and in her headphones, the film explores themes of fear, faith, and the power of sound.
A Personal Story Rooted in Grief
undertone is deeply personal, filmed entirely in Tuason’s childhood home. The film grew out of his experience caring for his own parents at the end of their lives. Tuason was unable to attend the Sundance screening due to unforeseen health issues, but Kiri shared at the post-screening Q&A that his generosity in opening his home contributed to the film’s impact.
The film’s production was meticulous, with Tuason providing a 300-page document detailing every sound in the movie. Producer Cody Calahan described it as “a giant Bible.” This attention to detail resulted in a layered genre masterpiece with a unique soundscape of hallucinatory frights.
The Power of Sound and Negative Space
Producers Dan Slater and Tuason believe there is “something more” guiding the film, joking that it might even be haunted. Slater added that the film reveals more with each rewatch, even suggesting that watching it backwards unlocks additional layers of meaning.
undertone, which had its world premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival, is a 94-minute Canadian horror film produced by Black Fawn Films, Slaterverse Pictures, Spooky Pictures, DimensionGate, KINO Studios, and Feel Everything. It was released theatrically in the United States by A24 on March 13, 2026, and by VVS Films in Canada. The film’s budget was $500,000 and it has grossed $4.4 million at the box office as of March 15, 2026.