Among every adult-oriented cartoon movies I have ever watched, no other has stuck with me quite like the dread-soaked conclusion of the viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker created a grim, somber , often savage world with a few small , desolate glimmers of hope.
Although The Unicorn Wars feels like it originated from a drive to expand animation further, the filmmaker explained that it was rather an attempt to communicate a global, cross-cultural theme about “the mutual source of every conflict.”
That message is expressed by means of a group of vividly colored bears , clearly based on a popular line of cuddly characters.
Maturing in a society focused on aggression and the military-industrial complex, numerous the bears are fixated on slaughtering the mythical beasts, thanks to a religious scripture which states them they used to be kings of the woodland, until these creatures expelled them.
Others did not entirely fallen for the indoctrination, , prefer to sample drugs or engage sexually in the woods.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these colorful critters have visible sexual organs , definite sex drives.
For a certain notably brutal, cynical bear, Bluey, the battle against unicorns becomes a road to control — and specifically to dominance over his softer, more compassionate sibling the bear Tubby.
This bear is a bully and an obvious psychopath , and as terror dominates his squad and kills his teammates sequentially, he takes more and more power on his own behalf, via progressively gory, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, these mythical beings are experiencing their own nightmare, through a growing, destructive monster in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it seems like a comedy,” the director said. “However it becomes a more serious and sorrowful film. And ultimately, it becomes a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars starts out resembling one of the more playful features from a renowned filmmaker, that discover a naughty glee in permitting animated figures curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Subsequently it becomes closer to a bleaker film from that creator, including ever more explicit brutality and a tangible link to genuine suffering of conflict.
By the end, it becomes an outright extreme drama carnage.
The fear that makes the film a perfect Halloween viewing begins much sooner than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted fans of gore, for lovers of extreme cinema who desire to view a movie they have not watched previously, and can endure a narrative that offers absolutely no punches.
View it in a dark room with no disturbances, and the conclusion will burrow into your mind and stay with you.
Where to watch: Offered for streaming or buying on multiple digital platforms.