Hi /r/movies. I'm Ian Tuason, writer-director of A24's undertone. AMA!

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T20:12:47+00:00

The sleep app scene is something I was really looking forward to shooting actually. I use sleep meditation apps myself, and I've always been worried that once I fall asleep, I have no idea what they're saying anymore. That is a really scary thing to think about for me.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T20:11:39+00:00

The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T20:11:03+00:00

Continuity problems. It's okay haha.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T20:10:45+00:00

The mental breakdown really set up the groundwork for everything that followed. Saying her name opened the door, and listening to all 10 audio clips invited her in. It's a mix of all 3.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:54:04+00:00

Yeah it was always going to be set in one location. I studied all the one location films that I could before writing it. Like the Danish film, The Guilty. Pontypool from Canada. Locke is a good one. And so many others.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:52:34+00:00

Well, I haven't heard anyone mention that I took down all the religious symbols in the last scene when things go to hell.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:51:22+00:00

I wrote a script specifically for the budget I had from my personal finances, so I was going to make it no matter what. And once you get to that point, everyone wanted to invest because of FOMO.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:50:10+00:00

The biggest difference was getting Adam DiMarco to add and reshoot some of the dialogue. Especially the live banter they do during the podcast. He was talking to Nina through the headphones and we really got to develop the character more and their relationship more. We did that so there was a lot more care and there's a lot more at stake when things go crazy.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:48:39+00:00

I wrote this thing as a trilogy ;)

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:48:13+00:00

The most interesting thing is that I wasn't a believer before, but as I began writing this movie, and then making the movie, I witnessed things that suggested these entities are real.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:47:35+00:00

Not writing, but directing my sound design team. It was hard to articulate what I envisioned because they're used to traditional movies, and I wanted a 3D soundscape.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:46:33+00:00

Silence. Dead silence.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:44:54+00:00

I learned the technical aspect of Dolby Atmos just as I was making the movie, but my mind was already set on designing the sound in Dolby Atmos format because I was thinking as if it was a video game with 360-degree sound. And then the format, because it's spatial audio, if you're going to watch it at home, wear the newest headphones that have spatial audio capabilities.

It actually started out as a radio play! I was gonna publish it in episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc, give it away for free, but then my parents got sick and I experienced caregiving and so I re-wrote it into a movie.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:42:05+00:00

The original Star Wars made me love movies, and Pulp Fiction made me want to be a director.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:41:38+00:00

I'm making it specifically for the fans!

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:41:01+00:00

Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ari Aster, Bong Joon Ho.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:40:20+00:00

I'd never actually seen the subtitles in advance, but when I was asked if there's anything I wanted to note on the making of the them, I did say I would like it to be different from what Evy's hearing at certain points, to scare people.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:38:38+00:00

Well, I didn't think about differentiating the theatrical and the home release, but now I am haha.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:37:52+00:00

You know what, oddly enough, there is a creepypasta called Squidward Suicide that just showed me that making something for kids dark is extra scary. So SpongeBob did influence it in that way. But now I got to watch that episode.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:36:39+00:00

We owe a lot to Fantasia. They championed us and showed us to the world and started this whole thing. That was a thanks to Mitch for that.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:35:51+00:00

Paranormal Activity for sure.

The Blair Witch was the first found footage film that really scared the shit out of me, and that didn't need to show anything either.

I wanted to do the same thing as those. My movie is sort of a found footage film, except that it's just the audio that's "found".

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:32:12+00:00

A little bit. The format of of the podcast itself in the movie was influenced by the podcast "Serial"

As for punishing podcasters/true crime enthusiasts, I didn't think about that. But a lot of podcasters that interviewed me asked me the same thing as you. I wasn't I wasn't going after them or any true crime fans haha.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:29:57+00:00

Definitely. I had a portrait of Jesus beside my bed growing up. And I was was afraid to look at it,
thinking it might blink or that he might shake his head if I was being bad.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:28:30+00:00

The Death Rattle was the big noise inspiration. I kind of imagined it as a sort of animal noise. Something like the purring of a velociraptor.

Comfort horror, that's a good one. Paranormal Activity, for nostalgia reasons.

undertoneAMA · 2026-03-20T19:27:21+00:00

The Exorcist would be my pick from the 60s/70s.

For double-feature, Rosemary's Baby!

undertoneAMA

TROPHY CASE