Among all the mature cartoon movies I have personally watched, no other has lingered in my mind as much as the dread-soaked conclusion of the graphically gory as well as deeply subversive film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based filmmaker developed a dark, bleak and often savage universe with some tiny , desolate twinges of hope.
While Unicorn Wars feels like it originated from an impulse to advance the medium further, the director explained that it was actually an effort to express a universal, multicultural theme about “the common origin of all wars.”
This theme is conveyed through a group of vividly colored bears , obviously inspired by a popular line of cuddly figures.
Growing up in a society centered on militarism as well as the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are obsessed with killing the mythical beasts, due to a holy book that claims them they used to be kings of the woods, until the horned beings drove them out.
Others haven’t fully bought into the brainwashing, and prefer to try out substances or fornicate in the forest.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these vivid animals have visible sexual organs and clear libidos.
For a particular especially vicious, skeptical animal, the character Bluey, the conflict against unicorns turns into a route toward dominance — and particularly to dominance above his softer, nicer brother the character Tubby.
Bluey is a bully , a seeming psychopath , and as terror dominates his squad and kills his comrades one by one, he seizes progressively control personally, in increasingly violent, harmful methods.
At the same time, the unicorns are enduring their own terror, as an expanding, destructive monster in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it feels like a comedy,” the director stated. “However it evolves into a more dramatic and sad movie. And in the finale, it’s a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars begins feeling a bit like among the playful films by an iconic animator, that uncover a wicked pleasure in permitting drawn beings swear, shoot each other, or have intimate relations.
Subsequently it becomes closer to a darker film from that director, with increasingly visual gore and a palpable relation to the real tragedy of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes a complete theatrical horror bloodbath.
The fear that makes the film an ideal spooky-season movie starts well before than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted gorehounds, for enthusiasts of graphic films who desire to see a film they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and can endure a narrative which delivers absolutely no punches.
Watch it in a dark room without any distractions, and the finale will dig deep within you and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via rental or purchase on multiple online services.
Elara is a passionate writer and photographer who shares insights on creativity and mindful living through engaging storytelling.
