That Gory Cartoon Movie Conclusion That Haunts Audiences
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I have ever watched, no other has lingered in my mind quite like the dread-soaked conclusion of a explicitly bloody and deeply subversive 2022 movie Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spanish writer-director created a grim, melancholy and often savage world with a few small , desolate glimmers of hope.
Although Unicorn Wars feels like it stemmed from an impulse to advance animation even more, the director explained that it was rather an effort to communicate a universal, cross-cultural message about “the shared root of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed via a band of brightly hued teddy bears , obviously inspired by a popular line of lovable figures.
Maturing in a society centered on warmongering and the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are obsessed with exterminating unicorns, thanks to a religious scripture that tells the bears they previously were masters of the woods, before the horned beings forced them out.
Others haven’t fully accepted the propaganda, , would rather experiment with substances or engage sexually in the forest.
In contrast to their gentle counterparts, these vivid animals show sexual organs , obvious sex drives.
For a particular especially vicious, cynical bear, Bluey, the war against the unicorns transforms into a road to power — and especially to dominance over his gentler, nicer brother the character Tubby.
The character behaves aggressively and an obvious sociopath , and when horror overcomes his squad and takes his comrades one by one, he takes more and more power on his own behalf, via progressively gory, harmful methods.
At the same time, the unicorns are enduring their own horror, in the form of a spreading, harmful creature in their forest.
“Initially, it appears as a humorous movie,” the director stated. “But then it becomes a more serious and sorrowful movie. And in the finale, it’s a horror film.”
The Unicorn Wars commences feeling a bit like one of the most playful features by an iconic animator, that uncover a wicked pleasure in allowing cartoon characters curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Then it evolves into closer to a more grim film by that same director, with increasingly graphic violence , a tangible connection to the real tragedy of war.
In the finale, it becomes an outright Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The terror that turns this an ideal spooky-season viewing begins well before than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for enthusiasts of extreme cinema who wish to view a movie they’ve never watched previously, and are able to withstand a narrative that pulls unflinching brutality.
View it with the lights off free from interruptions, and that ending will dig under your skin and stay with you.
Where to watch: Available for rental or purchase on various streaming sites.
