In 2015 Spanish filmmaker Alberto Vázquez co-directed and co-wrote the adult animated coming-of-age horror-drama film Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, which made waves internationally due to its signature blend of nihilism and surrealism; striking visuals; and startling violence. While Vázquez has worked on award-winning animated shorts since Birdboy’s debut, 2022’s Unicorn Wars marks the filmmaker’s return to feature-length animation.
Much like Birdboy, the brutal Unicorn Wars is making a splash — or, to put it more accurately, a splatter. After all, how could a film that self-describes as “Bambi meets Apocalypse Now” not leave a lasting impression? Here’s what to know about the crude, provocative film that might just turn out to be feature-length animation’s best offering of the year.
What Is Unicorn Wars About?
Unicorn Wars pits anthropomorphized teddy bears against unicorns in a bloody conflict fueled by the bears’ religious doctrine. A bizarre logline, for sure, but what’s so successful about Unicorn Wars is the way it blends cute characters with striking, violent visuals. Unicorn Wars establishes that unicorns once lived alongside bears and other wild animals in a magical forest — until the bears found a sacred book in the ruins of a church. The knowledge contained within the tome empowers the bears to build a human-like civilization and gain sentience.
At some point, they evolve into brightly colored Care Bear-lite teddy bears who believe they have claim over the forest. The unicorns find themselves the target of the bears’ long-enduring holy war, which, according to the bears’ doctrine, won’t end until a Chosen One rises up and drinks the blood of the last unicorn. (This act will also usher in a new age and mark the arrival of a godlike being.) In the film’s opening, the bears’ oppressive, religion-infused military regime has a new recruit among its ranks: Azulín, who wants to become the Chosen One at any costs.
Is Unicorn Wars For Kids?
The short answer? No, Unicorn Wars is not for kids. Like the other films written and directed by Alberto Vázquez, Unicorn Wars is an adult-animated film. Given the themes it explores, and the brutal way it interrogates the horrors of war, its intended audience isn’t children. Although Unicorn Wars takes a hyper-violent, absurdist approach to the nature of war, it’s certainly more in conversation with classic war films — like the tragic and quietly devastating Grave of the Fireflies (1988) — than kid-friendly fare.
What Happens At The End Of Unicorn Wars?
In the present, teddy bear brothers Azulín and Gordi train under a brutish drill sergeant and listen to their priest spread an anti-unicorn gospel. The religious doctrine not only sanctifies the teddy bears’ hate of their enemies, but fuels Azulín’s dreams of being the Chosen One. Azulín is also resentful of his kin: he’s jealous of Gordi for being born first and winning their mother’s favor; he despises Coco, the teddy bear army’s top recruit; and he poisons his own mother after she leaves Azulín and Gordi’s father for another lover.
Clearly, Azulín is driven by savage ambition and encouraged by the bears’ religious indoctrination — though he isn’t alone in that. When his troop is sent into the forest to rescue missing soldiers, Azulín encounters untold violence and death. Eventually, the squad finds a lone unicorn and kills her without hesitation. Afterward, other unicorns decimate the bears’ forces, leaving just Azulín, Gordi, and top recruit Coco alive. Full of rage, Azulín kills Coco (and does something even more disturbing, but we won’t spoil that).
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the ending of Unicorn Wars.
The brothers encounter other unicorns, and Azulín injures one of them. However, another unicorn impales Azulín in the scuffle, severely disfiguring him. A bear troop finds Azulín and promotes him to Lieutenant. To further the war effort, Azulín is held up as a hero to his fellow soldiers. Meanwhile, Gordi helps María, the unicorn Azulín wounded, and learns from her that the forest’s church — the very place the bears’ sacred text came from — is now home to simians.
Azulín’s popularity does a number on his ego, inspiring him to lead a coup against his own superiors. Drunk on power, Azulín leads the bear army in an all-out assault on the unicorns. With both sides utterly decimated, only Azulín, Gordi, and María remain. Furious that his brother aided a unicorn, Azulín kills both Gordi and María in a fit of rage. Alone on the blood-soaked battlefield, Azulín fulfills the Chosen One prophecy by drinking the slain unicorn’s blood.
While that would be an incredibly powerful place to end, Unicorn Wars throws one last commentary-infused twist into the mix. María's corpse morphs into something monstrous; before settling into the form of the godlike creature the bears’ scripture foretold, she consumes the brothers. Oh, and that godlike creature María becomes is, of course, a human.
Why Should You Watch Unicorn Wars?
Although Unicorn Wars is built on a wild premise — a conflict between anthropomorphic teddy bears and unicorns — it is well worth the watch. The absurdity of it all underscores the very absurdity of senseless, brutal warfare, and the ways in which hateful doctrine can be all-consuming. Filled with striking visuals, Unicorn Wars smartly leverages its colorful, cute cast to disarm viewers.
Sure, the commentary isn’t necessarily anything new; plenty of war movies chronicle the horrors of bloody conflict and the way these circumstances change people. Even so, Unicorn Wars is a fresh approach to said commentary on the horrifying nature of war, the dangers of toxic masculinity, and the corrosive forces of both power and religion. And while it can be a bit too indulgent and over-the-top — some viewers might find that it takes the violence and vulgarity too far — there’s no denying the power of the subversive story and hauntingly beautiful art of Unicorn Wars.