A24’s latest descent into psychological horror, Undertone, serves as a visceral homage to the era of creepypasta forums and digital folklore. The narrative follows Evy (Nina Kiri) and Justin (Adam DiMarco), a pair of paranormal podcasters who stumble upon a series of cryptic audio files. What begins as a search for content quickly spirals into a confrontation with a predatory supernatural entity. The film is a treasure trove of internet-horror hallmarks: haunted dolls, cursed viral media, and disturbing stick-figure sketches that manifest in the physical world. By leaning into the disorienting “3 a.m. challenge” aesthetic, Undertone captures that specific brand of creepypasta dread—where the line between a screen-born legend and ancient, primordial mythology begins to blur.
“I view this fundamentally as a creepypasta film,” writer-director Ian Tuason explained in a conversation with Polygon. A pioneer in viral VR storytelling who was recently selected to reinvigorate the Paranormal Activity franchise, Tuason notes that the film’s DNA is rooted in digital myths. “The characters host a creepypasta podcast, and the haunting they endure is triggered by files shared through those same digital channels. The entire foundation is built on that specific subculture.”
In the early 2010s, the internet saw a surge of underground, lo-fi adaptations of popular threads like Slenderman and Jeff the Killer. However, when major studios attempted to commercialize these legends—most notably with 2018’s Slender Man—the results often felt hollow, lacking the unsettling intimacy of the original posts.
In recent years, a new wave of filmmakers who grew up immersed in these forums has reclaimed the genre. Works like Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink have found critical acclaim by prioritizing atmosphere and obsession over jump scares. This shift is influencing upcoming projects like Markiplier’s Iron Lung and Kane Pixels’ Backrooms. Undertone positions itself at the heart of this creative evolution.
Photo: Dustin Rabin/A24
“I wasn’t intentionally trying to capitalize on a trend,” Tuason admits. “My goal was simply to create the most effective horror film possible. But looking at the landscape now, I see the connection. Perhaps there’s a newfound freedom for directors to experiment with these niche internet subgenres.”
Tuason’s relationship with creepypasta is long-standing. He was an early witness to the Slenderman phenomenon and eventually transitioned from reader to creator. Using the platform Wattpad, he authored The Online Profile of a Serial Killer, a narrative structured through faux blog posts that garnered millions of reads and won a Watty Award in 2016. The work was later expanded into the novel Everyone and No One.
“Writing that felt like being part of a living urban legend,” says Tuason. “Readers would comment on chapters asking if the events were actually happening. That blurred reality is exactly what I wanted to bring to Undertone.”
Image: A24
The film’s central dynamic pits Evy’s rational skepticism against Justin’s eager belief. Their discovery of ten forbidden audio files acts as a Pandora’s Box; despite the warnings, their curiosity leads them down a path of increasing peril. Parallel to this, Evy is grappling with the exhausting reality of caring for her comatose mother—a subplot rooted in Tuason’s own experiences. The director filmed Undertone in his family home after returning to care for both parents through terminal illnesses during the pandemic.
“I spent two and a half years in that house under the same conditions as Evy,” he shares. “I was writing the script in the midst of that grief. After losing both my parents, I reached a state of mind where traditional scares didn’t affect me anymore. I had to dig deeper to find what still truly frightened me.”
Photo: Dustin Rabin/A24
For Tuason, the potency of creepypasta lies in its ability to anchor the extraordinary in the mundane. By linking common domestic anxieties—like noises in the dark—to malevolent entities, the horror becomes disturbingly plausible.
“It’s that moment of vulnerability when you wake up in the dead of night,” Tuason says. “A sudden noise might have a logical explanation, but in the silence of your own home, your imagination immediately gravitates toward the unthinkable. That’s the feeling Undertone seeks to exploit.”
Undertone arrives in theaters nationwide on March 13.
Source: Polygon
