The Grisly Animated Film Ending That Lingers Audiences
Among all the mature animated films I’ve ever viewed, no other has lingered in my mind as much as the terror-laced conclusion of a viscerally violent and highly provocative film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, the Spanish writer-director created a grim, bleak and often savage universe with several minor , desolate glimmers of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it came from a desire to advance animation even more, the director explained that it was more an effort to convey a widespread, cross-cultural theme regarding “the mutual source of all wars.”
That message is conveyed through a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , obviously modeled after a popular line of cuddly characters.
Maturing in a society focused on aggression as well as the war machine, a lot of these animals are fixated on killing unicorns, because of a religious scripture which states the bears they used to be kings of the forest, until these creatures expelled them.
A few did not entirely bought into the brainwashing, and prefer to sample narcotics or mate in the woods.
In contrast to their cuddly equivalents, these bright beings have visible genitals and obvious sex drives.
For one notably brutal, skeptical animal, the character Bluey, the war with the unicorns transforms into a path to power — and specifically to authority above his softer, more compassionate sibling Tubby.
This bear is a bully , a seeming psychopath , and while fear dominates his unit and claims his comrades one by one, he grabs more and more power personally, in increasingly gory, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, these mythical beings are experiencing their own horror, as a spreading, destructive monster in their habitat.
“Initially, it seems like a humorous movie,” the director said. “But then it becomes a more dramatic and sorrowful movie. And by the end, it becomes a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like among the quirky movies by an iconic animator, that uncover a mischievous joy in permitting animated figures curse, shoot each other, or have intimate relations.
Then it becomes more akin to a darker work from the same artist, with increasingly visual gore and a tangible relation to the real horror of conflict.
In the finale, it becomes a full-on extreme drama carnage.
The fear that makes the film a Halloween-friendly movie begins well before than one might expect.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for fans of extreme cinema who desire to watch something they’ve never seen on-screen before, and can endure a narrative that pulls no restraint.
Watch it with the lights off free from interruptions, and the finale will dig into your mind and stay with you.
Availability: Accessible via rental or purchase on multiple streaming sites.
