Rent Undertone on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Ian Tuason
Directed by: Ian Tuason
Starring: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
The host of a popular paranormal podcast is sent hidden messages within anonymous recordings, unleashing a demonic presence that is impossible to escape.
Verdict
It's a great concept that never quite delivers. I always wanted more from the scares and the madness. The conversations and podcast banter never felt authentic, running into each other with no clear distinction. With such a narrow focus, the stilted dialog becomes an impediment. Likewise, the main character needs to interact with more people even if it is only by phone. The lack of development made me wonder if this was setting up some kind of twist that never came. Every aspect of this movie is chasing something that it never quite captures.
Skip it.
Review
Evy (Nina Kiri) cohosts a horror podcast with Justin (Adam DiMarco). She's the skeptic while he's the believer. They begin listening to a series of audio files a listener sent them over several episodes. Initially, it feels a bit like Searching (2018), restricting the movie to one medium.
Their podcast doesn't seem very interesting. The movie isn't very engaging either. We're forced to listen to a recording when this movie is a visual medium. We do get clips of Evy's mother's house where Evy lives, taking care of her mom. The house is full of religious iconography which lends a sense of foreboding. Thankfully this movie isn't all podcasting, though Evey taking care of her mother isn't that much more interesting. This wants to be artistic with close ups on teapots and microphones, but it seems more like filler due to a lack of anything else to frame.
 |
| Nina Kiri plays Evy |
Evy becomes unsettled when she finds her mom out of bed. Mom has been comatose every time we've seen her. Something weird is happening in the house, but Evy doesn't seem as alarmed as she should be. We're a third into the movie, and the plot should be well in motion and it's not. The movie is not doing nearly enough. With no other characters, I wondered if the twist would be Evy is imagining some or all of the events. That's not the case.
Part of the problem is dialog never feels natural nor does the podcast feel authentic. There's no banter, and there's no difference between their pre-show banter and the podcast. It should sound differently. Their podcast needs to be more than listening to a recording and being mildly amused. I don't know who edits the podcast, but I feel bad for that person.This needs another character to provide Evy someone to talk to and develop the character. There's just not enough here. A boyfriend is mentioned, but we never hear or see him. Why even include that information? Why does she never talk to him?
 |
| Nina Kiri plays Evy |
We get these slow panning shots like maybe we'll see her mother walking around or something else frightening, but nothing happens. There's no evidence that something even could happen. At one point in the latter half Evy admits she's pregnant to her mom. It comes out of left field. We've never even seen her talk to her mom before. Evy seems to be losing it, lashing out at her co-host. Is it the recording?
This movie needed to hit crazy in the first third and go from there. This slow burns for so long, teasing us without providing anything. The one woman show doesn't help. She feels isolated, but we don't see her go anywhere. What about groceries or even an Amazon package? She needs to do something.
I like the concept of the movie and even how it concludes, but there's so much that's not happening. I kept hoping this would take off and finally find a groove. It doesn't. If this was going to be a descent into madness, it needed to step it up much quicker.
 |
| Title Card |
No comments :
Post a Comment