The Grisly Cartoon Film Ending That Stays With Audiences
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I’ve personally viewed, no other has remained with me as much as the dread-soaked finale of the explicitly bloody and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, this Spain-based writer-director developed a dark, bleak and often savage world that included several minor , forlorn hints of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars seems like it came from a desire to advance animation further, the filmmaker stated that it was actually a try to convey a global, multicultural message regarding “the common origin of all wars.”
That message is communicated via a squad of vividly colored bears , clearly based on a well-known series of cuddly figures.
Being raised in a society centered on warmongering as well as the defense industry, a lot of these animals are consumed by killing unicorns, because of a religious scripture that tells them they previously were masters of the woodland, before the unicorns drove them out.
A few have not completely accepted the brainwashing, and would rather experiment with drugs or engage sexually outdoors.
In contrast to their friendly equivalents, these colorful critters have visible sexual organs and definite urges.
For one especially vicious, cynical bear, Bluey, the conflict against the unicorns turns into a path to power — and specifically to authority over his gentler, kinder brother the character Tubby.
The character behaves aggressively and a seeming antisocial figure , and while fear takes over his squad and takes his comrades sequentially, he takes increasingly influence personally, through ever more gory, destructive ways.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are experiencing their own nightmare, in the form of a growing, destructive monster in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it seems like a humorous movie,” the director commented. “Yet it turns into a more serious and melancholic movie. And by the end, it becomes a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars commences similar to among the playful films from a renowned filmmaker, which find a naughty glee in permitting cartoon characters swear, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Afterward it becomes more akin to a bleaker work by that same artist, including ever more explicit brutality and a tangible connection to the actual suffering of battle.
By the end, it becomes a complete extreme drama massacre.
The terror that turns this an ideal spooky-season watch kicks in a lot earlier than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for lovers of graphic films who want to watch a movie they’ve never watched previously, and who can handle a story which delivers absolutely no punches.
See it in a dark room with no disturbances, and the conclusion will dig deep within you and linger.
How to view: Available for streaming or buying on several online services.
