That Gruesome Animated Film Ending That Lingers Viewers
Among all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve ever watched, no other has lingered in my mind quite like the terror-laced conclusion of the viscerally violent and highly provocative 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker developed a dark, melancholy and frequently brutal universe that included some tiny , desolate glimmers of hope.
While Unicorn Wars seems like it came from a drive to expand the medium even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was actually an attempt to express a widespread, cross-cultural message about “the common origin of all wars.”
That message is communicated via a band of vividly colored bears , openly modeled after a well-known line of cuddly figures.
Growing up in a society built around warmongering and the defense industry, a lot of the bears are obsessed with slaughtering the mythical beasts, because of a sacred text that claims the bears they were once masters of the forest, until the unicorns forced them out.
Some have not completely accepted the indoctrination, and choose to sample narcotics or fornicate in the woods.
Unlike their friendly counterparts, these bright beings show genitals and clear libidos.
For one particularly cruel, skeptical animal, the bear named Bluey, the conflict against the unicorns turns into a path to control — and particularly to dominance above his gentler, kinder brother the character Tubby.
This bear acts as a tormentor , an obvious psychopath , and when fear takes over his unit and takes his comrades individually, he takes increasingly power for himself, through ever more bloody, harmful methods.
Simultaneously, the unicorns are enduring their own terror, as a growing, destructive monster in their woods.
“At the beginning, it appears as a lighthearted film,” the director stated. “Yet it evolves into a more intense and melancholic film. And ultimately, it’s a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like among the quirky films from a renowned animator, that discover a wicked pleasure in letting animated figures swear, fire weapons, or have intimate relations.
Afterward it becomes more akin to a more grim work from the same director, including ever more graphic violence , a palpable link to the real tragedy of conflict.
Ultimately, it is a full-on theatrical horror bloodbath.
The terror that makes the film an ideal spooky-season viewing begins much sooner than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is suited for the devoted lovers of violence, for fans of intense movies who desire to see a movie they haven’t ever watched previously, and who can handle a narrative that offers no restraint.
Watch it in a dimly lit space free from interruptions, and that ending will crawl deep within you and linger.
Where to watch: Available for digital rental or sale on multiple streaming sites.
