That Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Audiences
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I have ever watched, nothing has remained with me as much as the dread-soaked conclusion of a viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, this Spain-based filmmaker developed a grim, somber , frequently brutal world that included several minor , forlorn glimmers of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it originated from a desire to push the medium even more, the filmmaker stated that it was rather an attempt to express a universal, cross-cultural theme concerning “the shared root of all wars.”
That message is conveyed through a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , obviously inspired by a popular line of cuddly figures.
Being raised in a culture focused on aggression as well as the defense industry, a lot of these creatures are obsessed with exterminating unicorns, due to a religious scripture that claims them they were once rulers of the woodland, before the horned beings drove them out.
Some haven’t fully accepted the brainwashing, and choose to try out drugs and fornicate outdoors.
In contrast to their gentle equivalents, these colorful critters have visible genitals , clear urges.
For one notably brutal, pessimistic creature, the character Bluey, the conflict with unicorns transforms into a route to control — and specifically to supremacy above his gentler, nicer brother Tubby.
This bear behaves aggressively , an obvious antisocial figure , and as horror overcomes his group and claims his comrades sequentially, he takes increasingly control on his own behalf, in increasingly bloody, harmful methods.
Simultaneously, these mythical beings are suffering their own terror, in the form of a spreading, destructive monster in their woods.
“At the beginning, it feels like a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it evolves into a more serious and melancholic movie. And by the end, it becomes a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars commences feeling a bit like among the quirky movies by a legendary filmmaker, that uncover a naughty glee in allowing animated figures swear, engage in violence, or sex each other up.
Then it evolves into more akin to a more grim work by that same director, featuring progressively visual gore , a tangible link to genuine suffering of battle.
In the finale, it is a full-on extreme drama bloodbath.
The terror which makes the film a perfect Halloween viewing starts a lot earlier than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is suited for the hardcore lovers of violence, for fans of intense movies who want to see a film they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and who can handle a plot which delivers no restraint.
View it in a dimly lit space without any distractions, and that ending will crawl into your mind and stay with you.
How to view: Accessible via digital rental or sale on various streaming sites.