That Gruesome Cartoon Film Ending That Stays With Audiences
Among every adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve ever viewed, no other has remained with me as much as the fear-filled ending of the graphically gory and deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker crafted a dark, somber , often savage world that included some tiny , desolate twinges of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars seems like it stemmed from a drive to push animation even more, the director clarified that it was more a try to convey a widespread, multicultural theme regarding “the mutual source of each battle.”
That message is expressed through a band of vividly colored bears , openly inspired by a famous series of cuddly figures.
Growing up in a society centered on aggression and the defense industry, many of these animals are fixated on exterminating unicorns, due to a sacred text that claims them they used to be masters of the forest, until the horned beings forced them out.
Some did not entirely fallen for the indoctrination, , would rather try out drugs or engage sexually outdoors.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these bright beings have visible genitals , definite libidos.
For a particular particularly cruel, cynical bear, the bear named Bluey, the conflict with unicorns becomes a route to control — and specifically to dominance over his softer, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
This bear behaves aggressively and a seeming psychopath , and as fear dominates his group and kills his comrades sequentially, he takes progressively power for himself, in increasingly gory, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are experiencing their own nightmare, through a spreading, harmful creature in their woods.
“Initially, it appears as a comedy,” the director commented. “However it evolves into a more serious and sad film. And by the end, it’s a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the more playful movies from a legendary filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in letting animated figures curse, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Subsequently it turns into more akin to a darker work from the same creator, with increasingly visual gore and a noticeable relation to the real tragedy of conflict.
By the end, it is an outright Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The fear which makes the film a Halloween-friendly viewing begins a lot earlier than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for lovers of graphic films who wish to see a movie they’ve never watched previously, and can endure a plot which delivers unflinching brutality.
View it in a dark room with no disturbances, and the finale will dig into your mind and stay with you.
Where to watch: Available for digital rental or sale on multiple digital platforms.
