That Grisly Cartoon Movie Conclusion That Stays With Audiences
Among every adult-oriented cartoon movies I have personally watched, no other has remained with me as much as the terror-laced ending of the viscerally violent and highly provocative 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, this Spanish filmmaker created a grim, melancholy , often savage universe that included a few small , desolate twinges of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars feels like it stemmed from a desire to push animation further, the filmmaker clarified that it was rather an attempt to convey a global, cross-cultural message regarding “the shared root of each battle.”
That message is conveyed via a squad of colorful pastel bears , clearly based on a popular series of lovable characters.
Being raised in a culture built around warmongering as well as the defense industry, many of these creatures are obsessed with exterminating unicorns, thanks to a sacred text that claims them they previously were masters of the woods, until the unicorns drove them out.
Others haven’t fully fallen for the brainwashing, and choose to try out substances and engage sexually in the woods.
In contrast to their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters show sexual organs , definite urges.
For a particular especially vicious, skeptical animal, the character Bluey, the war against the unicorns turns into a road to power — and particularly to supremacy over his more tender, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
Bluey acts as a tormentor and a seeming antisocial figure , and when horror takes over his unit and claims his comrades one by one, he takes progressively influence for himself, in increasingly bloody, damaging approaches.
At the same time, the horned creatures are suffering their own terror, in the form of a spreading, harmful creature in their habitat.
“At the beginning, it seems like a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it evolves into a more serious and melancholic film. And in the finale, it transforms into a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the most playful features from a legendary filmmaker, that uncover a wicked pleasure in allowing cartoon characters curse, engage in violence, or sex each other up.
Afterward it turns into closer to a more grim work from the same director, including ever more explicit brutality and a tangible connection to the real tragedy of war.
Ultimately, it is a full-on Grand Guignol carnage.
The fear that turns this an ideal spooky-season watch kicks in much sooner than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the hardcore fans of gore, for fans of graphic films who wish to watch a film they’ve never watched previously, and can endure a story that offers unflinching brutality.
See it in a dimly lit space with no disturbances, and the conclusion will crawl into your mind and linger.
Availability: Offered for rental or purchase on several digital platforms.
