UNDERTONE (2026)

C.J. and guest Brandon Will slip on their headphones and listen at their own peril as they podcast about a movie about a podcast, UNDERTONE (2026). This audio-driven A24 horror movie centers around a young woman acting as the primary caregiver to her ailing mother, and Brandon brings his personal experiences as his mother's caregiver to the discussion. C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have been featured at international fests including Tribeca, NewFest, Overlook, and Chicago International Film Festival, winning a handful of awards along the way. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva Brandon Will is a writer and filmmaker. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. For ten years he’s been primary caregiver for his mother, Janice, who lives with Parkinson’s. He’s completing a memoir, WILL MEN CARE, about the struggle in his thirties to comprehend what that asked of and offered him. He’s co-authoring a non-fiction book with Janice, and they’ve completed a screenplay—a rock and roll musical dance romance about the complexities of forming caregiving communities. They host Collective Will, an Open Mic centering disability/illness/aging/caregiving in Berwyn, IL and online. Their advocacy has appeared in books like Rainesford Stauffer’s “All the Gold Stars” and Jennifer Levin’s “Generation Care,” national media such as a Wall Street Journal profile, and as featured subjects of the ABC News Live Special "America's Care Crises," recently nominated for an Emmy. Find their work at our-will-power.com. Brandon's Letterboxd list of caregiver-related horror movies: https://boxd.it/Tgugw