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The Major Tones
Movie

The Major Tones

2024 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

It’s winter holidays and fourteen-year-old Ana discovers that the metal plate she has in her arm from an accident she suffered as a child is now receiving a strange message in Morse code.

Overall Series Review

The Major Tones is a Spanish-language coming-of-age mystery that focuses on the universal experience of adolescence and personal discovery, not political ideology. The core narrative follows 14-year-old Ana as she tries to decode mysterious Morse code messages being transmitted through the metal plate in her arm. The film balances her extraordinary quest with ordinary teenage concerns, such as friendship, her father’s new romance, and the general confusion of growing up. Set in Buenos Aires, the story has a magical-realist tone, centering on Ana's determination as she navigates an inner life that is becoming increasingly separate from her friend and father. The conflict is intimate and centered on solving a personal riddle, with reviewers noting its gentle, amiable tone and focus on the power of a raw, youthful emotional journey.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The narrative centers entirely on the personal, fantastical mystery of a teenage girl’s experience rather than focusing on race, class, or intersectional politics. Character merit and personal curiosity drive the plot, which is the quest to decode a message, without lecturing on privilege or oppression. The story is a localized, Spanish-language film without any indication of forced diversity or historical 'race-swapping.'

Oikophobia1/10

The film is an Argentinian/Spanish production set in Buenos Aires, using the city as the backdrop for a story about family and friendship. There is no evidence that the story frames the local culture, nation, or ancestors as fundamentally corrupt or racist. The mystery may involve her deceased mother, which respects the family connection, or is purely fantastical, not an attack on the home culture.

Feminism3/10

Ana is a strong, determined female lead who is the singular focus of the mystery, exhibiting a high degree of agency by actively seeking the message’s meaning. However, this agency is centered on personal growth, not forced 'Mary Sue' perfection used to emasculate men. Her father, Javier, is a main supporting character—an artist and teacher—who is shown as a complex, caring parent navigating his own life, not a bumbling idiot or toxic figure. The narrative avoids anti-natalist tropes by potentially linking the mystery to her deceased mother, suggesting the importance of a maternal connection.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core teenage social dynamics mentioned explicitly involve the protagonist and her friend 'talking about boys,' and the friend having a moment where she is 'kissing a boy.' This sets a normative structure for the adolescent relationship themes. There is no information to suggest the centering of alternative sexualities, queer theory, or any deconstruction of the male-female pair.

Anti-Theism1/10

The mystery is presented as a secular-fantastical conundrum, with possible explanations being an alien message, an anomaly, or a message from her deceased mother. The film does not feature a focus on religion, and there is no evidence of hostility toward Christianity or any other faith. The moral framework is centered on a girl's search for objective truth in the form of a code, aligning with transcendent principles of discovery, not moral relativism.