That Gruesome Animated Movie Conclusion That Stays With Viewers
Among every mature animated films I’ve personally viewed, nothing has remained with me quite like the terror-laced finale of a viscerally violent and highly provocative film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker crafted a grim, bleak and often savage world with a few small , forlorn hints of optimism.
Although Unicorn Wars appears as it came from an impulse to push animation further, the filmmaker explained that it was actually an attempt to convey a universal, cross-cultural message concerning “the mutual source of all wars.”
That message is conveyed through a squad of colorful pastel bears , openly based on a well-known series of lovable figures.
Being raised in a community built around warmongering as well as the defense industry, numerous these creatures are obsessed with exterminating unicorns, thanks to a religious scripture that tells the bears they previously were kings of the woods, until the horned beings expelled them.
A few have not completely accepted the brainwashing, and would rather experiment with narcotics or engage sexually in the forest.
In contrast to their cuddly counterparts, these bright beings have visible genitals and definite sex drives.
For one especially vicious, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the conflict with the unicorns transforms into a road to control — and specifically to supremacy above his softer, nicer brother Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor and a seeming sociopath , and as terror takes over his squad and takes his comrades individually, he grabs increasingly influence for himself, in increasingly gory, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, these mythical beings are suffering their own terror, through a growing, harmful creature in their woods.
“Initially, it seems like a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it evolves into a more intense and sorrowful movie. And in the finale, it’s a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the more playful features from an iconic filmmaker, which find a mischievous joy in permitting animated figures curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Afterward it turns into more akin to a more grim film by that same creator, featuring progressively explicit brutality and a tangible relation to the actual suffering of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes a complete theatrical horror massacre.
The horror which makes this an ideal spooky-season watch kicks in much sooner than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is ideal for the devoted fans of gore, for fans of extreme cinema who want to see a film they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and can endure a plot that pulls unflinching brutality.
Watch it in a dark room with no disturbances, and that ending will crawl into your mind and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Available for rental or purchase on various online services.
