Undone Review: A Tapestry of Grief, Trauma, and Hope
What if you could completely change your life—step into an alternate reality where a lost loved one is by your side again? For most of us, the answer would be an undeniable yes. That same yes propels Alma Winograd-Diaz, the protagonist of Undone, on a journey that transforms her life in profound and surreal ways. Undone is an American adult animated psychological drama starring Rosa Salazar as Alma. With two captivating seasons and a third eagerly anticipated (no announcements yet, so fingers crossed), the series first caught my attention in June on a friend’s recommendation. Since then, it has become my comfort show—the one I turn to while juggling chores or unwinding from a long day.
Undone feels like a letter filled with love, loss, and longing, a healing balm for the heart. It fills you with hope, reminding us that the world is much more than we are capable of perceiving. The story weaves together multiple themes—philosophical questions, mental health, relationships, trauma, and healing. While the nature of reality and sanity appears to be the core themes with a focus on what we can learn from the Indigenous cultures, the show also offers a complicated yet heartfelt depiction of how pain, grief, and trauma get passed through generations and the potential for healing.
My reasons for liking this series, though, are deeply personal, as I relate with Alma in numerous ways, 28 years old – check, eldest daughter – check, and like her I have also faced the loss of my father at a fairly young age, The plot resonated deeply with me because of my own experiences. I know first hand, what loss and grief means, and the portrayal of the possibility to find hope and healing is what makes this one of my favourite shows.
The show begins with Alma being tired of her monotonous life, wondering about the meaninglessness of existence. But things change completely for her as she starts seeing her dead father (Jacob) and also discovers that she can move across time and space in the aftermath of a car accident. Initially scared and hesitant, she decides to use her newfound powers to help her father investigate his mysterious death. Her father’s soul accompanies her throughout this journey. Jacob asks Alma for help in changing the past and bringing him back to life, all while helping her navigate the new reality.
The rotoscopic animation used in the show brings to life the blurring of reality through the constant shifting of landscapes, creating a visual treat. It’s an animation technique that involves tracing live-action footage frame by frame to create animated sequences with realistic movements. There are visuals of Alma floating in space, her mom’s body morphing from an infant to a skeleton and back again. Scenes dissolve and shift mesmerizingly, mirroring Alma’s disorientation. She repeatedly travels back in time, witnessing the past, people’s memories and replaying interactions until she gets them right.
There are layers and layers of sub-plots as we get to know the backstory of Jacob and his obsession with researching these powers while he was alive, to help his mother Geraldine. Then there are Camilla and Becca, Alma’s mother and younger sister, with whom she shares a love-hate relationship and who have been dealing with the grief of losing Jacob in their own ways. The show provides a glimpse into the life and memories of Sam as well, Alma’s kind and supportive boyfriend who Alma thinks she doesn’t deserve.
One of the most powerful depictions of healing is when Alma, Becca, and Jacob help Geraldine. Geraldine was abandoned by her husband and institutionalized after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. Again through loops of reenacting the past, they help her let go of the burden of feeling responsible for her parents’ death and the guilt of not being able to save them. This makes Geraldine forgive and embrace her younger self. This act triggers a ripple effect, bringing healing across generations.
Undone also opens a space to question the modern modes of thinking about mental illness. While introducing Alma to her powers Jacob explains, “In Indigenous cultures, people who can see visions and hear voices, they’re the shamans, you know, they’re the wise ones. But in Western culture, those people are locked up or put out on the street.” This idea is woven throughout the series, challenging our conventional understanding of mental health through spiritual perspectives from Indigenous cultures. There have been cultures throughout history that not only let people who were different just be, but also revere them, but with modernity, these people became something to be isolated and ‘fixed.’
The show also maintains an intentional ambiguity about Alma’s experiences. Is she accessing mystical powers, or is she experiencing schizophrenia? Jacob himself offers two possibilities: “Either you have one foot in the world of the dead and one in the world of the living, and you are communicating with me through some sort of spirit realm, and the accident has shaken your temporal understanding of time and space and somehow given you the ability to see things in a non-linear fashion…. Or this is all just some fever-dream morphine drip head trauma type of thing.” The question is left open-ended. For me, whether Alma’s experiences are ‘real’ doesn’t matter. What stands out is how the show delves into the profound themes of grief, trauma, and healing, offering a lens to explore them beyond the confines of conventional reality.
Finally, the series is brought to life by an outstanding soundtrack produced by Amie Doherty, which makes the magic of the show come alive. The soundtracks perfectly fit the various parts of the screenplay and create an ideal emotional ambience for the story as it unfolds. If you enjoy fantasy and psychological drama and want to dive deep into questions of life and love, moving through space and time, do check out this incredible show.
* This post was originally posted on 29th December 2024 on my WordPress Website.