That Gory Animated Movie Conclusion That Haunts Audiences
Out of every mature cartoon movies I have ever watched, nothing has stuck with me as much as the terror-laced finale of the viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based filmmaker developed a dark, melancholy , often savage world that included a few small , forlorn glimmers of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it stemmed from a desire to push animation further, the director stated that it was actually a try to communicate a global, cross-cultural message about “the common origin of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed via a squad of colorful pastel bears , obviously modeled after a popular line of lovable figures.
Maturing in a culture centered on militarism and the defense industry, many of the bears are obsessed with slaughtering unicorns, thanks to a sacred text which states them they were once kings of the forest, until the unicorns forced them out.
Some haven’t fully bought into the indoctrination, and prefer to experiment with substances and engage sexually outdoors.
In contrast to their cuddly equivalents, these bright beings display genitals and obvious urges.
For a particular especially vicious, skeptical animal, the character Bluey, the war against the unicorns transforms into a route to control — and particularly to dominance above his gentler, more compassionate sibling the character Tubby.
The character behaves aggressively and an apparent psychopath , and as terror takes over his unit and claims his teammates individually, he seizes increasingly influence personally, in increasingly gory, destructive ways.
At the same time, the horned creatures are experiencing their own nightmare, through an expanding, destructive monster in their forest.
“At the beginning, it feels like a humorous movie,” the director commented. “But then it becomes a more intense and melancholic film. And in the finale, it becomes a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the more quirky features by an iconic filmmaker, that discover a naughty glee in letting animated figures swear, shoot each other, or have intimate relations.
Subsequently it evolves into closer to a bleaker work from the same director, with increasingly graphic violence and a palpable link to the real tragedy of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes a full-on Grand Guignol massacre.
The horror that makes the film a perfect Halloween viewing begins well before than one might expect.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the hardcore lovers of violence, for lovers of intense movies who want to watch a film they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and are able to withstand a plot which delivers no restraint.
Watch it in a dimly lit space without any distractions, and the conclusion will crawl into your mind and linger.
Availability: Available for streaming or buying on several streaming sites.
