That Grisly Cartoon Film Ending That Stays With Fans
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I’ve personally watched, no other has lingered in my mind quite like the terror-laced finale of a explicitly bloody and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, this Spanish writer-director developed a grim, melancholy and frequently brutal universe that included a few small , forlorn hints of hope.
Although Unicorn Wars seems like it originated from an impulse to expand animation even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was actually a try to communicate a global, multicultural message concerning “the mutual source of all wars.”
That idea is expressed via a band of colorful pastel bears , openly modeled after a famous line of lovable characters.
Being raised in a community centered on militarism as well as the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are obsessed with slaughtering the mythical beasts, because of a sacred text that claims the bears they were once kings of the woods, before the unicorns forced them out.
Some did not entirely fallen for the propaganda, and prefer to sample substances or mate in the forest.
In contrast to their friendly equivalents, these vivid animals have visible genitals , definite sex drives.
For one especially vicious, pessimistic creature, the bear named Bluey, the war against unicorns turns into a path to control — and specifically to supremacy above his softer, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
The character is a bully , a seeming sociopath , and while fear overcomes his squad and takes his comrades sequentially, he grabs progressively control personally, through ever more bloody, harmful methods.
Meanwhile, these mythical beings are enduring their own terror, as a growing, destructive monster in their forest.
“In the early stages, it seems like a comedy,” the director commented. “But then it turns into a more dramatic and melancholic film. And ultimately, it’s a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars commences feeling a bit like among the quirky movies by an iconic filmmaker, that uncover a naughty glee in permitting cartoon characters swear, engage in violence, or engage sexually.
Afterward it becomes more akin to a darker film from the same director, featuring progressively explicit brutality and a palpable link to genuine tragedy of war.
Ultimately, it’s a complete Grand Guignol massacre.
The fear which makes this an ideal spooky-season watch starts a lot earlier than indicated.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the hardcore gorehounds, for fans of intense movies who desire to see a film they’ve never seen on-screen before, and can endure a story that offers no restraint.
View it in a dark room without any distractions, and that ending will dig into your mind and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via digital rental or sale on several online services.
