It's always interesting to find out which movies end up as streaming hits, especially when it comes to something that wasn't all that well known when it was initially in theaters. That's the case when it comes to HBO Max right now, as the film to reach the top of the charts right now is from the horror genre and was made on a mere $500,000 budget. Despite being a smaller movie that didn't receive a ton of fanfare, word of mouth helped it become more popular, which has helped it rise on the HBO Max charts.
That film is Undertone, a horror movie released by A24, which is another in a long line of projects in the genre from the production company. The movie doesn't feature any major names in the cast and instead allows several rising stars to move to the forefront, giving them a platform, while making a movie without having to spend too much. On a budget of less than $1 million, the positive response to Undertone led it to gross over $22 million at the worldwide box office.
That's a very solid number that helps showcase how the film grew as more people learned about it. The fact that it just arrived on HBO Max and already scaled to the top of the streaming charts is further proof of that and Undertone is a must-see project.
Undertone stands out because it looks a bit different from anything else in the horror genre, which is difficult to pull off considering the vast number of films released each year. The Canadian movie follows a woman named Evy, played by Nina Kiri, who hosts a paranormal podcast alongside her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco). The setup for their podcast is that he's the believer and she's the skeptic, which allows them to play well off each other.
Evy moves back home to care for her sick and dying mother (Michèle Duquet) just before she and Justin get sent recordings of a married couple (Keana Lyn Bastidas and Jeff Yung) who have a paranormal experience at their home. It gets so intense that Evy becomes a believer who is scared for her life and the film plays on that fear. What's interesting is that only two characters ever appear on screen: Evy and her mother.
That allowed the filmmakers to play even more with the small budget, as the other characters are only heard through audio. It also means that a lot of the scares come from the impressive sound design of the project. It manages to do a ton with a little, which is a staple of some of the best horror movies ever made. Whether Undertone will go down as a modern great in the genre is still to be determined but there is a good chance.
The reason Undertone may be considered one of the best modern horror films is that it received strong reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie sits at an impressive 74% rating from critics, with the consensus being that it masterfully uses its sound and things like negative space to create an eerie atmosphere that makes things truly haunting. It might play into the tropes of the genre, yet it manages to do something original with the concept and that's hard to pull off after so many horror projects over the years.
In a lot of ways, Undertone is proof that you don't need a ton of smoke and mirrors to craft something scary. In fact, a lot of the best horror movies are the ones that make the most out of smaller elements. The idea of "fear of the unknown" is a very real thing, which Undertone uses so well. You don't really see what you're supposed to be scared of, which heightens your imagination, which is always a bit scarier.
It should be noted that the audience score for Undertone on Rotten Tomatoes is a bit lower at 50%. Some casual audience members felt that aspects of it were a bit muted and that it's not a traditional horror film. The quieter and smaller aspects make for a movie that isn't all that easily accessible for everyone, though horror movie buffs are likely to get exactly what they want out of the indie project. There's certainly a reason it has become a hit on HBO Max.
Undertone is one of many horror movies put out by A24 in the past decade or so. The company has distributed some fantastic films within the genre and they've kind of become the best place to find modern horror projects. Picking out the best of the best from A24 is especially tough because of how many great horror movies they've put out. Tusk is an interesting one to consider if you like Undertone, since both deal with podcasters, though they're quite different otherwise.
The first A24 horror movie to really break out is The Witch, which was the debut of Robert Eggers, who has gone on to helm the likes of Nosferatu and The Lighthouse. The film was met with widespread acclaim and still ranks as one of the genre's best. Ari Aster is another director who has shined with A24, including putting out what might be their two best horror movies, Hereditary and Midsommar. Both are fantastic and very different while featuring two legendary performances by Toni Collette and Florence Pugh.
Ti West's X trilogy is also among the best A24 horror movies, with X and Pearl especially helping to reignite the slasher subgenre. There's also Heretic, Talk to Me, and Bring Her Back, which were all critical darlings. With its 74% rating, Undertone isn't exactly on the level of the very best that A24 has to offer. However, it stands out as one of the most unique horror films ever released by the studio and is exactly the kind of thing that makes the genre so interesting.
Undertone is different, it's legitimately scary, and it manages to make sure that even with a small budget, it captivates a viewer.
