The Gory Cartoon Film Conclusion That Haunts Audiences
Among every mature cartoon movies I’ve personally viewed, nothing has stuck with me quite like the fear-filled finale of a viscerally violent as well as highly provocative 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based writer-director created a dark, somber , often savage universe that included some tiny , desolate twinges of optimism.
Although The Unicorn Wars seems like it came from a desire to push the medium even more, the director clarified that it was more an effort to express a widespread, cross-cultural theme concerning “the mutual source of all wars.”
This theme is conveyed by means of a group of colorful pastel bears , clearly inspired by a well-known series of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a culture centered on warmongering and the war machine, numerous these creatures are obsessed with killing unicorns, due to a holy book that claims them they used to be rulers of the woods, before the unicorns forced them out.
Others did not entirely fallen for the indoctrination, and would rather try out drugs and mate in the forest.
Unlike their friendly counterparts, these bright beings show genitals , clear sex drives.
For a particular notably brutal, cynical bear, the bear named Bluey, the war with unicorns turns into a path to power — and especially to supremacy over his gentler, kinder brother the character Tubby.
Bluey behaves aggressively and an obvious antisocial figure , and while terror takes over his unit and kills his teammates individually, he takes progressively control for himself, through ever more gory, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are suffering their own terror, in the form of a growing, harmful creature in their habitat.
“At the beginning, it feels like a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “However it turns into a more serious and sorrowful movie. And ultimately, it’s a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the most quirky movies from a renowned animator, that uncover a mischievous joy in allowing animated figures curse, engage in violence, or have intimate relations.
Subsequently it turns into something more like a more grim movie from that director, with increasingly graphic violence and a noticeable link to the actual tragedy of battle.
In the finale, it’s a full-on Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The horror which makes the film a perfect Halloween movie kicks in well before than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for enthusiasts of intense movies who desire to watch a film they’ve never viewed until now, and are able to withstand a narrative that offers no restraint.
See it with the lights off without any distractions, and that ending will dig into your mind and take up residence there.
How to view: Offered for streaming or buying on multiple digital platforms.
