'Undertone' Ending Explained: Were the Audio Recordings Real? Does Evy die at the end?

WARNING: Undertone spoilers ahead!

One of the most acclaimed horror movies of the year, Undertone left genre fans hooked on the story of Evy (Nina Kiri). Host of a horror podcast alongside her friend Justin (voiced by Adam DiMarco), she comes across the most disturbing case the two have ever had to face, all while going through the delicate experience of caring for her elderly mother (Michèle Douquet), who is close to passing away.

Below, we break down the ending of Undertone, where the true nature of the terrifying audio recordings heard by Evy and Justin is revealed.

Were the podcast recordings real in Undertone?

Based on what the movie suggests, yes. Throughout Undertone, Evy and Justin listen to a series of ten audio recordings sent to the podcast by an anonymous sender, learning the story of a young couple — Mike and Jessa —expecting a baby. The recordings, which begin as the young man’s playful way of proving to his partner that she talks in her sleep, quickly become more sinister.

Eventually, Evy and Justin discover the existence of a demon from European folklore called Abyzou, which provoked miscarriages and made young mothers kill their babies. This seems to be the evil haunting the couple in the recordings, and eventually the two find out that Mike and Jessa committed suicide and left disturbing drawings on the walls of the house where they lived.

Does Evy die at the end of Undertone?

Again, based on what the movie suggests, yes. In the final sequence of Undertone, Evy and Justin unravel the mystery of Mike and Jessa and receive terrifying calls from their listeners. As she hears more about the story of Abyzou, Evy starts to unravel and begins seeing drawings on the walls of the house, bloodstains on the kitchen counter, and so on.

Confessing that her mother has finally passed away, and that she feels guilty for not having “prayed for her” her whole life, she finally goes upstairs and sees what appears to be her mother’s shadow in the bathroom doorway. Evy screams for her to stop, as if she is being attacked, and Undertone cuts to credits.

A theory about the ending of Undertone

One of the most popular ideas among Undertone fans since the movie’s release in the U.S. is that Evy’s mother has been dead since the beginning of the film, or at least that she died much earlier than we are led to believe. Tormented by guilt, the protagonist would then be imagining the recording sessions for her podcast – and, therefore, the entire story of Mike and Jessa. 

The movie’s ending, which shows us the walls of the house covered in scribbles and blood on the previously clean counter, may indicate that Evy’s mind has been deteriorating for a long time, and that she had only been hiding it from herself. In that sense, the ending of Undertone represents the moment when that “facade” collapses – and Evy, seeing what she has done, surrenders herself to the demon Abyzou (whether it is real or not).