Tag Archives: Jeff Yung

Jun 19 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Undertone

Undertone (2025)
Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco (v.o.), Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas (v.o.), Jeff Yung (v.o.)
Directed by: Ian Tuason

So, it’s no secret that I have nothing but disdain for A24. I find their movies boring and pretentious. But the premise for this one was so good that I couldn’t help myself. I made sure to stay away from the hype machine, and I tempered my expectations. And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised.

The host of an ‘all-things-creepy’ podcast moves into her dying mother’s house to be her primary caregiver. When her podcast is sent 10 audio recordings of a young pregnant couple experiencing paranormal noises, she realizes the woman’s story is a mirror of her own and each new recording scratches at her sanity, drawing her into a fate she seemingly cannot escape.

The story of the film is very simple, but it’s the execution where this film really succeeds. Since our main character Evy is the only actor you actually see on screen (besides her mother’s comatose form), they lean real heavily on the sound design, which was the whole gimmick of the film. The recordings become more and more creepy and strange things begin happening in her house. The camera work is slow, even in the tensest times, giving the whole thing a dream-like quality. The acting was quite good, both from our main character but also everyone we hear but don’t see. The fact that we don’t see anyone else besides Evy’s mother really drives home her sense of isolation and loneliness and the almost despair she feels at not having anyone help her care for her mother.

Now for the big question: is it scary? It was marketed as “the most terrifying film ever heard”, and I think they did a pretty good job at living up to that. It’s a mostly quiet film that has you straining your ears to see if you can hear something weird in the recordings, they don’t necessarily tell you everything that you should be hearing. There’re also moments of tremendous silence which were almost as creepy. The feeling of dread is heavy almost from the first frame and doesn’t let up for the whole film. There’re parts of the film where the screen is just black and you’re just listening and it actually freaked me out so much that I had to turn on a small lamp (I’m afraid of total darkness), and I can’t remember the last time a film did that to me. So yes, at least for me, it was scary.

So, do I recommend it? I do, as long as you don’t mind quiet, slow films. Action packed this is not. I give it a very good 8/10.

M.

This film isn’t streaming anywhere yet but is available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and YouTube.

Jun 17 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Shrouds

The Shrouds (2024)
Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, Elizabeth Saunders, Jennifer Dale, Jeff Yung
Directed by: David Cronenberg

This was a weird one, you guys. And not at all what I thought it was going to be. By the description given on Crave and IMDb, I thought this was going to be a nice haunting, ghosty story. I was very wrong. Also, I just had foot surgery and in a really unfair amount of pain, so I’ll try to be coherent as I write this, but it’s a little hard to focus, so forgive me.

Karsh, an innovative businessman and grieving widower, builds a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud. (See, doesn’t that sound supernatural??)

So this is a joined Canada/France production by David Cronenberg (who is Canadian). That should have at least prepared me for what was to come. I was very unprepared. French films are already super weird, but to add Cronenberg to the equation just upped the weird factor. So the story is actually about a man who invents a special kind of burial shroud that hooks to a screen in the grave marker that allows the mourners to actually see the body in the grave as it’s decaying. Why anyone would want that is beyond me, but apparently it comforts our main character. So while looking at his deceased wife’s skull one day, he notices what looks like tiny growths in her bones. Then comes the journey of trying to figure out what they are and where they came from.

Being a Cronenberg film I expected body horror, and while there’s less than one might expect from this director, the stuff that is there is pretty disturbing. I’m also actually surprised that he found an actress who would still do full nudity these days (and one of the most hardcore sex scenes I’ve seen in a film in a long time!). But that just added to the whole surrealness of the images. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure a good amount of the effects were cgi and not practical which is what Cronenberg is kinda known for. It’s kind of a shame.

The acting was pretty good across the board. And it was filmed very well, but I expected that. Where the film suffered is in it’s telling of this story. It was so twisty-turny that it was hard to follow sometimes. I can’t really say anything more about the film without spoiling it, and I do feel this film needs to be experienced at least once. I mean, what’s a little incoherence amongst friends? It’s odd and slightly off-putting, but it’s not without its charm. The ending is pretty ambiguous, but I’m pretty sure I figured it out.

So, do I recommend it? Yes, with the caveat that you have to like weird films. Having seen a few French films already will help you get ready for this one, hehe. As for me, I give it a pretty good 7/10.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Crave, and is available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and YouTube.