The Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Audiences
Out of every adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve personally viewed, nothing has stuck with me as much as the fear-filled conclusion of the explicitly bloody and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spain-based writer-director created a grim, bleak and frequently brutal world that included several minor , desolate hints of hope.
While Unicorn Wars seems like it stemmed from a drive to expand animation further, the filmmaker stated that it was rather a try to convey a global, multicultural theme concerning “the shared root of all wars.”
That message is expressed through a band of vividly colored bears , openly based on a well-known line of lovable characters.
Being raised in a society centered on aggression and the defense industry, numerous the bears are obsessed with exterminating unicorns, due to a sacred text that tells them they were once rulers of the woods, until the unicorns forced them out.
Others haven’t fully fallen for the brainwashing, and prefer to sample drugs and engage sexually in the woods.
In contrast to their cuddly counterparts, these vivid animals display genitals and clear urges.
For one notably brutal, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the war with unicorns transforms into a route toward dominance — and specifically to dominance over his more tender, more compassionate sibling Tubby.
This bear acts as a tormentor , a seeming sociopath , and as fear dominates his unit and claims his teammates individually, he takes progressively power for himself, through ever more bloody, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are enduring their own horror, through a spreading, deadly beast in their woods.
“At the beginning, it appears as a comedy,” the filmmaker said. “However it turns into a more intense and sad movie. And ultimately, it becomes a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the most playful films from a legendary filmmaker, that uncover a wicked pleasure in permitting drawn beings curse, engage in violence, or engage sexually.
Afterward it turns into more akin to a bleaker film from the same director, featuring progressively graphic violence , a tangible connection to genuine horror of war.
By the end, it is an outright Grand Guignol massacre.
The horror that makes this a Halloween-friendly watch kicks in well before than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the hardcore lovers of violence, for fans of extreme cinema who want to see something they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and can endure a plot that pulls absolutely no punches.
Watch it with the lights off without any distractions, and the finale will dig deep within you and linger.
Availability: Available for rental or purchase on multiple streaming sites.
