'Death of a Unicorn' Review: Unicorn Carnage Spree is a Surface Leveled Satirical Romp
At SXSW, it is a tradition, if not an expectation, for A24 to bring their most outrageous titles to the festival. Whatever's weird, campy, and off the wall in their arsenal will premiere at the Paramount Theater. In 2022, they brought Everything Everywhere All at Once, X, and Bodies Bodies Bodies. In 2023, they had Talk to Me and Problemista. Last year it was Y2K. This year, they brought their TIFF acquisition, Friendship, and their latest classist comedy, Death of a Unicorn. With the latter, you have what can be considered baby's first satire that's not as funny or clever as it seems.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of A24 | Credit:
Murray Close
MPA Rating: R (Strong violent content, gore, language and some drug use.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 44 Minutes
Production Companies: Secret Engine, Monoceros Media, Square Peg, The Royal Budapest Film Co, Ley Line Entertainment
Distributor: A24
Director: Alex Scharfman
Writer: Alex Scharfman
Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant
Release Date: March 28, 2025
Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his distant teen daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) are en route to a weekend retreat held by his pharmaceutical royalty boss, Odell (Richard E. Grant), who is ailing from terminal cancer. Along their drive, Elliot accidentally hits a baby unicorn with their car. As it flails on the ground, Ridley connects with it… until Elliot finishes the job and stuffs it in the trunk.
At the Leopold mansion, the family – Odell, his eccentric wife Belinda (Téa Leoni), and their boisterous son Shepard (Will Poulter) – find out about the unicorn and hand its body to their scientists (Steve Park and Sunita Mani). They discover that unicorn blood and its other properties can heal every ailment, among other things. The Leopolds decide to exploit it for financial gain and force Elliot to be their stooge in their scheme, to the dismay of Ridley. Unfortunately for them, the baby unicorn's parents are enraged, and now the bourgeoisie are on their hit list.
Death of a Unicorn Dropped at the Wrong Time
Death of a Unicorn is the directorial debut of Alex Scharfman, who has produced good indies like Resurrection, Blow the Man Down, and Selah and the Spades. As his first venture as a writer/director, penning another "eat the rich" satire in the now oversaturated market was not the best idea. Unicorn does have aspects that stand out, particularly the titular unicorn. Some of the strongest gags stem from the unicorn. The Leopolds are quick to use these mystical creatures' properties in many ways: Odell uses its blood to heal his cancer, then to make steak from its body, and Shepard uses its horn's dust to make uni-cocaine. Those visual gags are great, but that's where the buck of its inventiveness stops.
Scharfman is scoping out big pharma, but his cheeky, horror-comedic execution is endlessly scattershot. The characters within his script lack personality. The humor is derived from the Leopolds acting as "evil rich," but the family is pretty broad, acting as simple caricatures rather than characters. Despite Leoni, Grant, and Poulter going over the top, their talents can't make much of the dialogue. If the family is substandard, you can only imagine how that affects the satirical aspect. Spoiler alert, it's hella surface-leveled. Usually, I'm okay with that if it delivers elsewhere, like the horror aspect or performances. But Death of a Unicorn is dropped at the wrong time, for there's better, similar fare in television and film running laps around it right now. You have Bong Joon-Ho's Mickey 17, which discusses the exploitation of living things for greed, and Common Side Effects on Adult Swim, which is exceedingly more clever regarding its anti-big pharma message while having a unique sense of humor. It's like being a dad with three kids and two of them have art so good that I frame it on my wall, and the last I put on my fridge while ruffling his hair insincerely.
Paul Rudd Shines As a Suck-Up
The performances in Death of a Unicorn are decent. Everyone is playing towards their type – mainly Ortega, playing another disgruntled teen for the umpteenth time, but this time she has comedic vape hits – with the right amount of exuberance despite the mediocre material they're provided. Will Poulter is trying so hard in every scene, as his comic timing is strong, but the dialogue isn't up to snuff.
However, Paul Rudd stands out the most because he's such a worm in this. Elliot is a slimy, pitiful man who loyally supports the Leopolds at the expense of Ridley. They have a Family Guy “Peter and Meg” type of rapport where he throws her under the bus, and she's often ignored while being the brightest person in the room. I've never seen Rudd act this pathetic before; it was an aspect I held on to as entertainment. The film's soul lies in Elliot and Ridley's relationship, as he longs for his daughter's love again, especially following the loss of his wife/her mom. Scharfman's script nicely develops their relationship amid all the horse homicides. Rudd and Ortega have a nice chemistry, and their dynamic often works in comedic and emotional areas.
Too Much CGI In This A24 Indie
At Death of a Unicorn's afterparty, they had busts of the unicorn’s prosthetics used for the movie. The film’s inciting incident involving a hit-and-run features a great animatronic. Unfortunately, as the story progresses and the vengeful thorny creatures start drawing blood, they’re brought to life with middling CGI. Scharfman lacks the skill set necessary to make its creature feature horror aspects fun, from blocking and shot composition to making sure the animals occupy the same sphere as these characters rather than them feeling like a CG asset. There’s hardly any tension in the movie’s chase sequences because it doesn’t feel like these folks are being hounded by unicorns.
That said, the film does deliver on stellar, gruesome deaths, despite its subpar CGI quality. There's nothing like seeing rich folks get their fatal comeuppance. When someone gets killed, it's gory, violent, darkly funny, and enough to have you shouting, "GODDAMN!" at the screen. But again, it’s not as satisfying given the overuse of CGI over practical effects.
Final Thoughts
Death of a Unicorn is not as funny or clever as its potential, but Alex Scharfman's first foray into writing/directing is bolstered by its gruesome creature feature turn and some solid father-daughter soulfulness.
