That Grisly Animated Film Ending That Stays With Viewers
Among every adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve personally viewed, nothing has stuck with me quite like the dread-soaked ending of a viscerally violent as well as highly provocative 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spanish writer-director developed a grim, bleak , often savage universe that included a few small , desolate hints of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it stemmed from a drive to expand the medium even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was rather an effort to express a universal, cross-cultural theme regarding “the shared root of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed via a group of brightly hued teddy bears , clearly based on a well-known series of cuddly figures.
Being raised in a culture focused on aggression as well as the war machine, a lot of the bears are consumed by killing unicorns, thanks to a sacred text that tells them they used to be kings of the woods, before these creatures expelled them.
Others have not completely fallen for the brainwashing, and choose to sample substances and mate in the woods.
Unlike their gentle equivalents, these bright beings display sexual organs and obvious sex drives.
For a certain especially vicious, cynical bear, the character Bluey, the battle against unicorns becomes a route to power — and specifically to authority over his softer, more compassionate sibling Tubby.
This bear behaves aggressively , an apparent psychopath , and as horror dominates his unit and claims his comrades individually, he grabs increasingly power personally, through ever more violent, destructive ways.
At the same time, the unicorns are suffering their own horror, as a spreading, deadly beast in their forest.
“Initially, it feels like a comedy,” the director stated. “Yet it becomes a more dramatic and sorrowful film. And by the end, it becomes a terrifying movie.”
The Unicorn Wars commences similar to one of the more playful features by a renowned filmmaker, that uncover a wicked pleasure in permitting cartoon characters swear, shoot each other, or sex each other up.
Then it turns into closer to a more grim film by that same artist, including ever more graphic violence , a noticeable relation to the real tragedy of battle.
By the end, it’s a complete Grand Guignol carnage.
The fear which makes this an ideal spooky-season viewing kicks in much sooner than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the hardcore lovers of violence, for fans of graphic films who wish to see something they have not seen on-screen before, and who can handle a narrative that pulls absolutely no punches.
Watch it in a dark room free from interruptions, and that ending will dig under your skin and stay with you.
How to view: Accessible via rental or purchase on various online services.
