Toronto-based writer-director Ian Tuason (The Closet; pictured left) has wrapped on his directorial feature debut The Undertone.

The horror film is produced by Toronto-based prodcos Slaterverse Pictures and Black Fawn Films, and it stars Nina Kiri (The Handmaid’s Tale; pictured right) as the only on-camera speaking role. Dan Slater and Cody Calahan are producers.

The Undertone follows the host of a horror podcast who, when she moves into her mother’s home to become her primary caregiver, is sent audio recordings of a young pregnant couple experiencing paranormal occurrences. The film began production on Feb. 4 and wrapped on Monday Feb. 24, Black Fawn’s co-founder and executive producer Chad Archibald told Playback Daily.

According to Archibald, the film was financed through Black Fawn, private equity and L.A.-based film discoverability and streaming platform KINO Studios. The Undertone marks the first project in a multi-film collaboration between KINO Studios and Black Fawn Films. The partnership was solidified at 2024’s American Film Market and brokered by Archibald and KINO’s Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin, who are also executive producers.

Other EPs for Undertone are Anthony Eu, Douglas Lee, Al Akdari, Charles Bern, Mathew Sterling and David Sproat, as well as Tuason.

“With The Undertone, I’m crafting a horror experience that doesn’t just evoke fear — it engulfs you in it, using immersive sound design to make silence as terrifying as the unknown,” said Tuason in a statement. “Inspired by my own experience as a caregiver, the film explores how the stories we tell ourselves of fear, guilt and isolation can become the real horrors that haunt us.”

Nina Kiri is represented by Play Management.

Image courtesy of Black Fawn Film; photo by Dustin Rabin