That Gory Cartoon Film Ending That Haunts Fans
Among every mature animated films I’ve ever watched, nothing has lingered in my mind quite like the fear-filled conclusion of a graphically gory and deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, the Spanish writer-director developed a dark, bleak and frequently brutal world that included some tiny , desolate glimmers of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars seems like it originated from an impulse to push the medium even more, the filmmaker stated that it was rather a try to convey a universal, cross-cultural message about “the shared root of every conflict.”
This theme is expressed via a band of brightly hued teddy bears , clearly modeled after a famous line of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a society centered on warmongering and the defense industry, a lot of these creatures are fixated on killing unicorns, because of a sacred text that tells them they were once masters of the forest, before the horned beings drove them out.
A few did not entirely bought into the indoctrination, and prefer to experiment with narcotics or engage sexually in the woods.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these vivid animals have visible genitals and definite sex drives.
For one particularly cruel, pessimistic creature, the bear named Bluey, the conflict against unicorns transforms into a road to power — and particularly to supremacy over his more tender, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor , an obvious psychopath , and as fear dominates his unit and takes his teammates sequentially, he takes more and more control on his own behalf, through ever more gory, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, the unicorns are suffering their own nightmare, through a growing, deadly beast in their habitat.
“At the beginning, it appears as a humorous movie,” the director said. “Yet it becomes a more intense and sorrowful movie. And by the end, it transforms into a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars starts out resembling one of the most playful films from an iconic filmmaker, that uncover a wicked pleasure in allowing cartoon characters curse, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Afterward it becomes more akin to a bleaker movie by that same creator, with increasingly graphic violence and a tangible connection to genuine horror of conflict.
Ultimately, it is an outright theatrical horror massacre.
The horror which makes this an ideal spooky-season viewing starts much sooner than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted lovers of violence, for enthusiasts of graphic films who wish to watch something they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and are able to withstand a narrative that pulls absolutely no punches.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and that ending will dig deep within you and linger.
How to view: Offered for digital rental or sale on multiple streaming sites.