Anyone with Ornithophobia would do best to avoid this film!
Compared to most talking animal films, or just animated films of adventure in general, the movie covers a startling number of dark topics including genocide, racial purity and pogroms, child abuse and murder, the horrors of war, indoctrination, and brainwashing, and attempted fratricide. Worst of all it shows owls that are already creepy enough at their absolute worst in the most human of ways.- Metal Beak is essentially a giant monstrous owl version of Adolf Hitler complete with a strong sense of charisma and personal bloodlust. Not to mention his repulsive mask including a bad eye that not only makes him appear demonic but deranged as well.
- The Pure Ones and their methods are Nightmare Fuel In-Verse considering they're essentially the owl equivalent of the Nazi Party with a superior race motif against all other owls complete with their own Hitler Youth. Their methods include Rape, Pillage, and Burn where whatever they don't take or enslave, they burn to the ground. They also go about kidnapping owl children from all over the world to bolster their ranks and make them Pickers or Soldiers. The Pickers are forced as slaves to wade through the feces of Pure Ones and mice to find metal flecks to add to the pile the Pure Ones use to harness electromagnetic power to painfully disrupt the senses of enemy owls while soldiers are collected from the strongest of the brood to go through Training from Hell to be brainwashed into becoming mindless soldiers. Any resistance is steadily rooted out via Mind Rape from exposing owl children to moonlight during sleep periods ("moonblinking") to wipe out their memories and essentially destroy their minds. The Pure Ones have been pulling this insanity for years!
- Grimble's backstory itself is horrifying. His entire family and kingdom were attacked by the Pure Ones, and he fought back and lost. Impressed with his efforts, the Pure Ones captured and marked Grimble as their own, taking his family hostage and promising to free them if Grimble did their dirty work. Grimble had been doing so for many years, despite the fact it was strongly implied the Pure Ones had already killed off Grimble's family, and he had to wait for years for some group of owlets he helped kidnap to be strong or smart enough to resist the brainwashing so he could help them escape to send for help.
- Kludd's transition into becoming a Pure One throughout the film is horribly cultish. He goes from an underappreciated but earnest brother to a bloodthirsty fanatic willing to kidnap and brainwash his own younger sister and eventually kill his brother for the sake of the Pure One cause. All by appealing to Kludd's own internal prejudice, his desire for personal greatness, and feelings of inferiority.Nyra: We offer power and purpose. What can you offer us? What can you offer me?
- The Pure One's bat minions are quite unsettling. They're rabid snarling bats with blades on their wings and come in swarms!
- Unlike most animated films on talking animals Family-Unfriendly Violence is in full effect in this film. Owls are shown clawing and slashing each other apart, characters are dying, bats tearing apart owls, some of the said bats appearing to die via Neck Snap, Impalements, and drowning. War Is Hell and the film takes great pains to show that.
