The Gory Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Viewers
Among all the mature animated films I have personally watched, nothing has remained with me as much as the terror-laced conclusion of the graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spanish filmmaker created a dark, somber , frequently brutal universe that included a few small , forlorn glimmers of optimism.
Although The Unicorn Wars feels like it came from a desire to advance the medium even more, the director explained that it was more a try to express a global, cross-cultural message regarding “the shared root of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed by means of a band of colorful pastel bears , openly modeled after a popular line of lovable characters.
Maturing in a society focused on militarism and the defense industry, a lot of these creatures are fixated on exterminating the mythical beasts, thanks to a religious scripture that claims the bears they used to be rulers of the forest, until the unicorns drove them out.
A few did not entirely fallen for the brainwashing, , prefer to sample substances or mate in the woods.
In contrast to their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters show sexual organs and clear urges.
For a particular particularly cruel, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the battle with the unicorns becomes a road to power — and especially to supremacy above his softer, more compassionate sibling Tubby.
Bluey is a bully and a seeming antisocial figure , and when terror takes over his squad and takes his comrades one by one, he grabs increasingly influence on his own behalf, in increasingly gory, damaging approaches.
At the same time, the horned creatures are experiencing their own terror, through a spreading, destructive monster in their woods.
“In the early stages, it seems like a comedy,” the filmmaker said. “However it evolves into a more dramatic and sad movie. And in the finale, it becomes a terrifying movie.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the more playful movies by a renowned filmmaker, which find a naughty glee in allowing cartoon characters curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Then it evolves into more akin to a darker work by that same creator, with increasingly graphic violence , a tangible relation to the actual horror of battle.
In the finale, it becomes an outright extreme drama carnage.
The terror which makes the film a perfect Halloween viewing begins well before than one might expect.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted lovers of violence, for fans of graphic films who want to watch something they have not seen on-screen before, and are able to withstand a story which delivers unflinching brutality.
View it with the lights off without any distractions, and the finale will crawl under your skin and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via digital rental or sale on various online services.
