The Gruesome Animated Movie Ending That Haunts Viewers
Among all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve ever viewed, no other has lingered in my mind quite like the dread-soaked conclusion of the viscerally violent and deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spanish filmmaker crafted a grim, melancholy and frequently brutal world that included a few small , forlorn glimmers of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars feels like it came from a drive to expand animation further, the director stated that it was rather a try to communicate a global, cross-cultural theme concerning “the mutual source of each battle.”
This theme is communicated by means of a group of colorful pastel bears , openly inspired by a famous line of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a community focused on warmongering as well as the defense industry, numerous these creatures are fixated on exterminating the mythical beasts, due to a holy book that claims them they used to be rulers of the woodland, until the horned beings drove them out.
Others have not completely accepted the indoctrination, , choose to sample substances and mate in the woods.
In contrast to their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters show sexual organs , obvious sex drives.
For a particular notably brutal, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the conflict against the unicorns turns into a road to control — and particularly to dominance over his softer, kinder brother the bear Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor , an apparent sociopath , and when horror takes over his squad and claims his fellow soldiers sequentially, he seizes more and more power personally, in increasingly violent, destructive ways.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are experiencing their own nightmare, as a spreading, harmful creature in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it seems like a comedy,” the director stated. “Yet it turns into a more dramatic and sorrowful film. And by the end, it transforms into a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out similar to among the whimsical films from a renowned animator, that uncover a mischievous joy in permitting cartoon characters curse, engage in violence, or engage sexually.
Subsequently it becomes closer to a bleaker work by that same director, with increasingly explicit brutality and a tangible relation to the actual suffering of battle.
By the end, it’s an outright theatrical horror bloodbath.
The fear that makes the film a perfect Halloween watch starts much sooner than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is suited for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for fans of graphic films who desire to view something they have not seen on-screen before, and can endure a narrative that offers unflinching brutality.
See it in a dark room with no disturbances, and the conclusion will dig into your mind and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Offered for digital rental or sale on various online services.
