That Grisly Animated Film Ending That Stays With Audiences
Among all the mature cartoon movies I have ever viewed, no other has stuck with me as much as the fear-filled ending of the explicitly bloody as well as deeply subversive 2022 movie Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based filmmaker crafted a grim, bleak and frequently brutal world with several minor , desolate hints of optimism.
Although Unicorn Wars feels like it originated from a desire to expand the medium even more, the director stated that it was rather an effort to express a global, cross-cultural message concerning “the shared root of all wars.”
This theme is conveyed via a band of vividly colored bears , clearly inspired by a well-known series of lovable characters.
Maturing in a culture focused on warmongering and the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are consumed by killing unicorns, because of a holy book which states the bears they were once kings of the woodland, until the horned beings forced them out.
Some haven’t fully fallen for the brainwashing, , choose to experiment with substances or fornicate in the woods.
In contrast to their cuddly counterparts, these vivid animals show genitals , definite urges.
For a certain particularly cruel, skeptical animal, Bluey, the battle with unicorns transforms into a path to power — and particularly to supremacy over his more tender, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
Bluey behaves aggressively and a seeming sociopath , and as fear dominates his squad and takes his comrades one by one, he takes more and more influence on his own behalf, through ever more bloody, destructive ways.
At the same time, the unicorns are suffering their own nightmare, as an expanding, deadly beast in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it appears as a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker said. “But then it evolves into a more serious and melancholic film. And in the finale, it’s a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars begins resembling among the whimsical movies from a renowned animator, that discover a wicked pleasure in allowing cartoon characters swear, engage in violence, or have intimate relations.
Afterward it turns into something more like a more grim movie by that same creator, including ever more graphic violence and a palpable link to genuine horror of war.
By the end, it’s a full-on extreme drama bloodbath.
The fear that turns the film a Halloween-friendly watch starts a lot earlier than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is suited for the devoted lovers of violence, for lovers of graphic films who want to see a movie they’ve never seen on-screen before, and are able to withstand a story that offers no restraint.
See it in a dimly lit space with no disturbances, and the finale will crawl under your skin and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Offered for digital rental or sale on multiple online services.
