Among every mature cartoon movies I have personally viewed, nothing has stuck with me as much as the dread-soaked conclusion of a graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker developed a grim, bleak , frequently brutal world that included several minor , forlorn twinges of hope.
Although Unicorn Wars seems like it stemmed from a drive to expand the medium further, the director clarified that it was more a try to convey a universal, cross-cultural theme concerning “the shared root of all wars.”
That idea is expressed through a band of colorful pastel bears , openly modeled after a popular series of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a community built around aggression and the military-industrial complex, many of the bears are fixated on exterminating unicorns, due to a sacred text that tells the bears they previously were rulers of the forest, until these creatures expelled them.
Others have not completely accepted the brainwashing, and would rather sample drugs or engage sexually in the woods.
Unlike their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters have visible genitals , clear libidos.
For a particular particularly cruel, skeptical animal, the bear named Bluey, the conflict with unicorns becomes a road toward dominance — and specifically to dominance above his gentler, more compassionate sibling the character Tubby.
Bluey behaves aggressively and an apparent sociopath , and while horror takes over his unit and kills his fellow soldiers one by one, he takes increasingly power for himself, via progressively violent, harmful methods.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are experiencing their own nightmare, through an expanding, deadly beast in their woods.
“Initially, it appears as a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it becomes a more serious and sad film. And in the finale, it transforms into a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the more whimsical movies from an iconic filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in permitting animated figures swear, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Then it evolves into something more like a bleaker work from that director, with increasingly explicit brutality and a tangible connection to genuine horror of battle.
Ultimately, it becomes a complete Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The terror which makes the film a Halloween-friendly viewing kicks in a lot earlier than one might expect.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the hardcore lovers of violence, for fans of graphic films who desire to see a movie they’ve never seen on-screen before, and who can handle a plot that offers absolutely no punches.
Watch it in a dimly lit space with no disturbances, and the conclusion will crawl under your skin and stay with you.
Availability: Accessible via streaming or buying on multiple streaming sites.
