Out of all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve personally watched, no other has stuck with me quite like the fear-filled finale of a graphically gory and deeply subversive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spanish writer-director created a dark, melancholy , frequently brutal world with several minor , desolate glimmers of hope.
Although The Unicorn Wars seems like it originated from a desire to advance animation further, the filmmaker stated that it was more a try to convey a widespread, multicultural message about “the shared root of all wars.”
That idea is expressed through a group of colorful pastel bears , obviously based on a famous line of lovable figures.
Growing up in a culture built around aggression and the war machine, a lot of these creatures are consumed by exterminating unicorns, thanks to a sacred text that tells the bears they were once masters of the woodland, until these creatures drove them out.
Some did not entirely accepted the indoctrination, , choose to experiment with narcotics or engage sexually in the woods.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these colorful critters have visible genitals and obvious libidos.
For a certain particularly cruel, skeptical animal, the bear named Bluey, the war against unicorns turns into a route to power — and specifically to authority above his gentler, more compassionate sibling the bear Tubby.
Bluey acts as a tormentor , an apparent sociopath , and as fear dominates his squad and claims his teammates individually, he seizes more and more control personally, through ever more bloody, destructive ways.
At the same time, the unicorns are experiencing their own horror, through a growing, harmful creature in their woods.
“Initially, it seems like a comedy,” the director said. “Yet it evolves into a more dramatic and sorrowful film. And in the finale, it transforms into a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars begins similar to among the playful films from a renowned animator, that discover a wicked pleasure in letting drawn beings swear, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Then it turns into something more like a bleaker work from that creator, with increasingly visual gore and a palpable connection to genuine tragedy of battle.
In the finale, it is a complete Grand Guignol massacre.
The fear that turns this a Halloween-friendly watch starts well before than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is ideal for the hardcore gorehounds, for fans of graphic films who want to watch a film they haven’t ever watched previously, and are able to withstand a narrative which delivers unflinching brutality.
See it in a dimly lit space without any distractions, and that ending will dig under your skin and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via streaming or buying on various online services.
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