That Gory Cartoon Movie Ending That Stays With Fans
Among all the mature animated films I’ve ever watched, nothing has lingered in my mind as much as the terror-laced ending of a viscerally violent and deeply subversive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spain-based writer-director created a dark, melancholy , often savage universe that included several minor , desolate hints of hope.
Although The Unicorn Wars feels like it stemmed from a desire to advance animation further, the filmmaker stated that it was actually a try to communicate a universal, cross-cultural theme concerning “the shared root of each battle.”
That message is expressed through a group of colorful pastel bears , openly based on a well-known line of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a society focused on warmongering and the war machine, numerous the bears are fixated on exterminating unicorns, because of a religious scripture that claims the bears they were once rulers of the forest, before the unicorns drove them out.
Some did not entirely fallen for the indoctrination, and would rather experiment with substances or fornicate in the woods.
Unlike their friendly equivalents, these bright beings display sexual organs , clear sex drives.
For one especially vicious, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the conflict with the unicorns transforms into a path toward dominance — and specifically to authority above his softer, more compassionate sibling the bear Tubby.
Bluey acts as a tormentor and an apparent antisocial figure , and when fear dominates his group and kills his fellow soldiers one by one, he grabs increasingly control for himself, through ever more violent, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are experiencing their own terror, in the form of a growing, harmful creature in their forest.
“In the early stages, it appears as a humorous movie,” the director said. “But then it turns into a more intense and sorrowful film. And ultimately, it’s a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars begins resembling one of the more whimsical movies by an iconic filmmaker, that discover a naughty glee in permitting cartoon characters swear, fire weapons, or have intimate relations.
Subsequently it becomes something more like a more grim film from the same artist, with increasingly visual gore and a noticeable connection to the actual suffering of conflict.
In the finale, it becomes a full-on theatrical horror massacre.
The horror which makes the film a Halloween-friendly watch kicks in well before than indicated.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for lovers of intense movies who want to view a movie they haven’t ever viewed until now, and who can handle a narrative that offers no restraint.
View it in a dimly lit space free from interruptions, and the conclusion will crawl deep within you and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via rental or purchase on multiple online services.
