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The Unhealer
Movie

The Unhealer

2020 • Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Spiritual healing gone wrong turns a relentlessly bullied teenager into a super-powered killing machine just as his tormentors do the unthinkable.

Overall Series Review

The Unhealer is a supernatural revenge horror film following a bullied teen who gains a power that reflects injury back onto his attackers. The narrative focuses primarily on the classic themes of high school torment and vigilante justice. The film introduces political themes not through social commentary on the bullying itself, but through the mechanics of the supernatural power. The source of the power is a crucial plot device that frames Western-associated religion as a corrupt sham, while a pure, ancient indigenous spiritual tradition is presented as the authentic and moral alternative. This framing gives the movie a high political score in the categories related to culture and religion, despite the plot itself being a standard revenge story.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The central supernatural element involves a white character, Pflueger, desecrating and stealing sacred Shaman powers from a Native American burial site. A First Nation character, Red Elk, acts as the moral guardian attempting to reclaim the stolen magic. This narrative frames a non-indigenous figure as fundamentally corrupt in relation to a venerable indigenous cultural and spiritual source.

Oikophobia8/10

The movie’s core magic system pits a corrupt, deceptive Western construct—a conman "faith healer"—against an ancient, noble indigenous tradition and its protector. The authentic, morally guided spiritual power originates from the indigenous "Other," while the Western figure is purely selfish and materialistic, stealing and misusing the power.

Feminism2/10

The plot focuses on a male protagonist's struggle with bullying and revenge. His mother is depicted as a loving, concerned, and protective figure whose death is the ultimate catalyst for the final rampage, validating her importance to the family structure. The main conflict is not defined by gender dynamics or anti-male messaging.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative is entirely centered on a supernatural revenge plot stemming from high school bullying and a family tragedy. There is no introduction, centering, or lecturing on alternative sexualities, the deconstruction of the nuclear family, or gender ideology.

Anti-Theism8/10

The primary villain who inadvertently empowers the protagonist is a conman, "Reverend" Pflueger, who presents himself as a Christian faith healer. This depiction associates the figure of Western organized religion with fraud and moral corruption. The only genuine spiritual power is established as non-Christian and indigenous, creating a direct contrast where institutional faith is exposed as a charade.