The Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Stays With Viewers
Among every adult-oriented animated films I have personally viewed, no other has stuck with me quite like the dread-soaked finale of a graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, this Spanish writer-director developed a dark, melancholy , often savage universe with several minor , desolate twinges of optimism.
Although Unicorn Wars appears as it originated from an impulse to expand the medium even more, the filmmaker explained that it was more a try to express a universal, cross-cultural theme regarding “the shared root of every conflict.”
This theme is conveyed by means of a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , clearly inspired by a well-known line of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a community focused on aggression as well as the war machine, numerous these creatures are fixated on exterminating the mythical beasts, thanks to a sacred text that claims the bears they were once kings of the woodland, before the horned beings drove them out.
A few haven’t fully fallen for the propaganda, and would rather try out drugs and engage sexually outdoors.
In contrast to their cuddly counterparts, these bright beings have visible genitals , obvious sex drives.
For one notably brutal, cynical bear, the character Bluey, the battle against the unicorns transforms into a path to power — and specifically to authority over his softer, kinder brother the character Tubby.
The character behaves aggressively and a seeming antisocial figure , and while horror overcomes his unit and kills his comrades one by one, he takes progressively power for himself, via progressively gory, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, the horned creatures are experiencing their own nightmare, through an expanding, harmful creature in their habitat.
“Initially, it seems like a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it turns into a more dramatic and sad film. And in the finale, it’s a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars starts out resembling among the quirky films from a legendary filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in letting cartoon characters swear, shoot each other, or have intimate relations.
Then it turns into more akin to a darker work from the same creator, including ever more explicit brutality and a palpable connection to genuine tragedy of war.
By the end, it is a complete Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The fear which makes this a Halloween-friendly viewing kicks in well before than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is ideal for the devoted lovers of violence, for enthusiasts of extreme cinema who wish to watch a film they’ve never watched previously, and can endure a narrative which delivers unflinching brutality.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and that ending will crawl into your mind and linger.
How to view: Offered for digital rental or sale on several digital platforms.