Death of a Unicorn, 2025.
Written and Directed by Alex Scharfman.
Starring Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, Sunita Mani, Steve Park, Anthony Carrigan, and Jessica Hynes.
SYNOPSIS:
Father-daughter duo Elliott and Ridley hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO.
With a tantalizing premise built on comeuppance that a band of scorned unicorns will get their revenge on the members of a wealthy pharmaceutical family for selfishly experimenting on one of their dead bodies to replicate healing powers so potent it cures cancer, first-time writer/director Alex Scharfman’s Death of a Unicorn also cleverly sets itself up as an animal cruelty takedown by way of slasher antics. However, Alex Scharfman perhaps doesn’t see the movie that way or doesn’t want to tell that story, more concerned with one-note characters (human protagonists and antagonists) and low-hanging fruit jokes regarding the upper class. This is not to say that Bong Joon Ho isn’t capable of a misfire (he released one this month), but one can’t help but wonder how much more bite and activist charge he could put into a concept like this.
Even more surprising about these miscues is that Jenna Ortega’s Ridley develops a fantastical, spiritual, and possibly emotional connection with the titular unicorn before it dies. So, she is the noble voice of reason, but the narrative is also more concerned with her, still grieving the loss of her mom to a terminal illness, all while her relationship with her father, Elliot (Paul Rudd), continues to fall apart due to his misplaced excessive dedication to attaining a work promotion that will have him working in a key role with that same pharmaceutical family mentioned above and, theoretically, in a similarly elitist class able to go above and beyond financially supporting for her.
That relationship only sours further when Elliot smashes into a unicorn on the road and then decides to “sympathy” finish it off.
Anyway, Ridley is not materialistic and flat-out doesn’t care about being filthy rich, arguing with her father on the car ride to the family’s remote compound. However, Elliot is intentionally written frustratingly, so he doesn’t notice or comprehend any of this simply because the story and eventual juxtapositions between parents of different social classes demand it. Of course, the movie has Paul Rudd being stupid and goofily endearing about this, but as it goes on, this is unmistakably a crutch to cover up shoddy writing.
When everything goes sideways, Ridley indulges in my favorite horror cliché (derogatory): Internet research that instantly pulls up all the necessary information. Naturally, everyone, including her father, more or less, tells her to piss off and ignores the warning signs because they are going to be rich (the unicorn blood properties also heal her acne and Elliot’s allergies).
Death of a Unicorn also happens to be skewered in favor of comedy, which begins as amusing upon meeting this self-absorbed family ranging from the dying patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant), his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni, also in Jurassic Park III, which feels like possible stunt casting considering there are parallels here to that franchise), spoiled brat and drug-addicted son Shepard (Will Poulter), and their rundown and overworked without thanks butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan, also the funniest character in the movie for his expressions that so visibly show how much he hates these people down to his bones).
It then takes those jokes and beats them like a dead unicorn. Griff eventually starts using some of the unicorn substance as something to snort, like cocaine, helping him achieve a hyperactive intelligent form of transcendence, which is funny the first time and eye-rolling by the third (despite him otherwise filling the part and getting a laugh from his clueless cruelty ordering around Griff.) Everyone continues to ignore the smartest person in the room out of greed. The film doesn’t even have the good sense to play off the compelling dynamic that while Ridley is still grieving, she is trying to make things right with a unicorn family (presumably) that has lost their youngest.
Again, much of this starts funny until the movie gradually reveals itself to be one-dimensional and empty (even the predictable emotional swings don’t pay off). There is also an unnecessarily lengthy anticipatory build-up to the unicorns striking back. Some of those kills are undeniably brutal; others are played too hard for laughs and lack impact. Thankfully, most of those kills occur at night when the low-budget visual effects can be masked. However, everything else is dark, lit poorly, and lacks the colorful vibrancy that makes up the daytime scenes.
Simultaneously, the premise for Death of a Unicom is so catchy it’s almost enough to carry the movie, especially with Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd riffing off one another. Their story is hollow, but that doesn’t necessarily stop her from convincingly conveying a strong voice of reason and him from once again having pitch-perfect comedic delivery. Unfortunately, it’s all in service of a movie making a death rattle across its running time.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
