A24’s New R-Rated Paranormal Horror Has Critics & Audience Very Divided On Rotten Tomatoes

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A24’s new horror movie, Undertone, is not exactly pleasing everyone’s ears.

Eight months after its debut at the Fantasia International Film Festival, the new supernatural film Undertone was released in theaters. Critics generally enjoyed the movie’s paranormal mystery, which helped it achieve a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Viewers are now getting a chance to see what all the buzz is about with the new movie, Undertone, but reactions are mixed. Critics who saw it in theaters generally liked it, describing it as immersive and scary. However, general audiences haven’t been as impressed, with some finding the under-90-minute film to be boring and lacking a clear purpose. Currently, Undertone has an audience score of only 52%.

The film Undertone centers around Evy, a podcast host played by Nina Kiri, who shares recordings of strange noises with a couple. Though initially skeptical of the paranormal, Evy finds herself increasingly fearful and paranoid. After premiering at a film festival, A24 acquired the rights to distribute the movie worldwide for over a million dollars, with a planned release date in March 2026.

Despite sparking debate about how it ends, the new horror film Undertone is proving to be a hit for A24. Remarkably, it’s earned over $4.3 million in the US with a production budget of only $500,000.

With such a strong audience response for a low-budget film, this is already a very profitable release for A24. It’s also A24’s second box office hit of 2026, following the success of Pillion, which starred Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård.

The movie’s strong performance at the box office suggests a promising future. Director Ian Tuason told ScreenRant’s Grant Hermanns that he originally envisioned Undertone as a trilogy, and he and A24 are currently exploring possibilities for continuing the story.

Now that the movie is successful, it seems likely the director will get to explore some unanswered questions. Addressing these mysteries could explain why some viewers had such strong, and differing, reactions to the film.

Tuason made their directorial and screenwriting debut with Undertone, with Dan Slater and Cody Calahan serving as producers. The film stars Kiri alongside Adam DiMarco, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas, Jeff Yung, Sarah Beaudin, and Brian Quintero.

Undertone is now playing in theaters.

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2026-03-15 06:28