The Gruesome Cartoon Film Ending That Haunts Audiences
Among all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I have ever watched, nothing has stuck with me quite like the terror-laced ending of the viscerally violent as well as deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, the Spanish filmmaker developed a dark, somber , frequently brutal universe that included several minor , forlorn hints of optimism.
While Unicorn Wars feels like it stemmed from a drive to advance the medium further, the director explained that it was rather an effort to communicate a universal, multicultural theme concerning “the mutual source of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed by means of a group of colorful pastel bears , obviously inspired by a famous series of lovable figures.
Being raised in a culture built around aggression and the military-industrial complex, a lot of these creatures are obsessed with killing unicorns, due to a sacred text that tells the bears they previously were rulers of the woodland, before these creatures drove them out.
Others did not entirely fallen for the propaganda, and would rather try out narcotics or fornicate in the woods.
In contrast to their cuddly equivalents, these vivid animals display sexual organs and definite libidos.
For one particularly cruel, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the battle against the unicorns becomes a path to control — and especially to authority over his softer, nicer brother Tubby.
Bluey is a bully , an obvious sociopath , and as fear takes over his group and kills his teammates one by one, he seizes progressively power on his own behalf, in increasingly bloody, harmful methods.
Simultaneously, the horned creatures are enduring their own horror, through a growing, deadly beast in their forest.
“At the beginning, it feels like a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker stated. “Yet it evolves into a more serious and sorrowful film. And in the finale, it’s a terrifying movie.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out resembling one of the more quirky features from an iconic filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in permitting cartoon characters swear, shoot each other, or sex each other up.
Subsequently it turns into closer to a more grim film from that director, featuring progressively explicit brutality , a noticeable relation to genuine horror of war.
In the finale, it’s a full-on extreme drama bloodbath.
The fear that makes this a Halloween-friendly watch begins a lot earlier than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the devoted gorehounds, for lovers of intense movies who want to see something they have not watched previously, and can endure a plot that offers unflinching brutality.
Watch it in a dark room free from interruptions, and that ending will crawl into your mind and linger.
Where to watch: Accessible via digital rental or sale on several digital platforms.
