That Grisly Animated Movie Ending That Stays With Fans
Among all the mature cartoon movies I have personally watched, nothing has lingered in my mind quite like the terror-laced ending of the viscerally violent and highly provocative film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based filmmaker developed a grim, somber , frequently brutal universe with a few small , desolate glimmers of hope.
While Unicorn Wars appears as it originated from a drive to advance the medium further, the director clarified that it was actually a try to communicate a universal, multicultural message about “the mutual source of every conflict.”
That message is expressed through a band of vividly colored bears , openly inspired by a well-known line of cuddly figures.
Growing up in a culture focused on aggression as well as the defense industry, numerous the bears are obsessed with exterminating the mythical beasts, because of a holy book that tells them they used to be masters of the woodland, before the horned beings expelled them.
A few did not entirely bought into the propaganda, and prefer to try out drugs or fornicate outdoors.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these vivid animals display sexual organs and clear urges.
For one notably brutal, cynical bear, Bluey, the war against the unicorns becomes a path toward dominance — and especially to supremacy above his gentler, nicer brother the character Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor and an obvious sociopath , and while fear takes over his squad and kills his teammates sequentially, he takes more and more influence on his own behalf, through ever more violent, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, the unicorns are enduring their own horror, through an expanding, harmful creature in their forest.
“At the beginning, it feels like a humorous movie,” the director said. “Yet it becomes a more serious and sorrowful film. And ultimately, it becomes a terrifying movie.”
The Unicorn Wars begins feeling a bit like among the quirky films by a renowned filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in permitting cartoon characters curse, engage in violence, or sex each other up.
Subsequently it evolves into more akin to a bleaker work by that same creator, featuring progressively graphic violence , a palpable link to the real tragedy of conflict.
Ultimately, it’s an outright Grand Guignol massacre.
The fear that makes this a perfect Halloween watch kicks in a lot earlier than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted gorehounds, for fans of extreme cinema who wish to watch something they have not seen on-screen before, and can endure a narrative which delivers absolutely no punches.
Watch it with the lights off free from interruptions, and that ending will dig into your mind and take up residence there.
How to view: Available for streaming or buying on several online services.
