There’s not much in the way of surprises as far as what Death of a Unicorn has to offer. The film delivers on its title quickly and so clearly spells out what it intends to do with this bizarre development that the filmmakers must rely on the script and the actors to keep it all exciting. By exciting, I mean entertained by the scenes featuring wealthy elites concerning themselves more with the profitability factors of a unicorn horn over their own safety and the graphic violence involved when other unicorns come looking to administer punishment. If this all sounds like an absurdist comedy, well, you’d be right. But how funny is it? Fortunately, a game cast makes this one of the more broadly entertaining A24 films, making up for the lack of a sharper edge by the sheer number of jokes this movie manages to squeeze out of its premise.
Written and directed by Alex Scharman, the story has too many pieces to feel like a pitch for a sketch, but the idea does feel like the result of spinning off as many thoughts as one could from one key sentence – “What would happen if you accidentally hit a unicorn with your car?” In this film, Paul Rudd does just that. He plays Elliot Kintner, a recently widowed lawyer on his way to the secluded mansion owned by his billionaire boss, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant). Elliot is joined by his distant daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), whose brief interaction with the seemingly dead beast makes her aware of the foreboding future ahead of them if the situation is not appropriately handled. The problem is the wealthy family, which includes Téa Leoni as matriarch Belinda Leopold and the spoiled son Shepard (Will Poulter), who only see dollar signs upon learning that the properties of a unicorn can cure all diseases and illnesses. Of course, they’ll learn what happens the hard way when interfering with this fantastical side of nature once the adult unicorns come for blood.
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Nuance is not really a factor in this film. Wearing its commentary very plainly on its sleeves, the idea of “eating the rich” becomes more than just metaphorical once we start seeing adult unicorns eviscerating cast members. Yes, while films commenting on the dark side of a capitalist society are nothing new, the nature of modern films addressing the haves and the have-nots certainly feels more emphasized, and this is just the movie that relies on the structure of a creature feature to help deliver that same message. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that if there’s fun to be had.
Rudd does what he can, playing somewhat against type as a limp straight man of the group, whose arc so clearly involves realizing how vast wealth cannot save his relationship with his daughter. Does this come at the expense of him being a funnier force for the film? To a degree, though, he still hits the beats required of him well enough. Fairing much better is the rest of this cast, who have more exciting shades to play.
Ortega is our audience surrogate, and while she’s the emotional center of the film, there is fun to be had watching her attempt to explain why this is a bad situation while reacting (and vaping) to the ridiculous characters around her. Grant and Leoni are ideally cast here, leaning into the loathsome roles of those who look down on everyone while feeling they are doing the right thing. There’s also effective supporting work from Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as the Leopolds’ butler, who battles for having the most quick, hilarious asides with the rest of the cast.
All of that said, Poulter emerges as the film’s MVP, playing into the role of a self-absorbed doofus who may know how to speak the lingo of a young greedy businessman but would be destined to go down in flames on some kind of cocaine bender, were it not for the arrival of a mythological creature prompting more immediate consequences. As Shepard, Poulter brings so much energy to his various line deliveries, the rich person costuming, and just his general physicality. Yes, the unicorns are a sight to behold, but the film gets plenty of comic energy with this guy and the rest of this cast.
Of course, there’s also the matter of how much these laughs really hit. Since the film is more willing to point to things that are so clearly messed up about a specific type of high society person, as opposed to delving deeper into the true evils that come from the way they can skew an economy by way of medical resource supply, for example, it’s not exactly fitting to call this a satire. Still, as a horror-comedy, the combination of exacerbated debates regarding how to deal with this situation and the gruesome material involving what man does to unicorns and what unicorns do ten-fold to man keeps things pretty funny.
Honestly, as a monster movie, there’s some good tension derived from the status of the unicorns, what may happen with at least one of them, and how this film delivers on its build-up to certain inevitable moments. Relying on a combination of practical effects and CGI, Death of a Unicorn is not coming out of a big enough studio to convince anyone that the digital versions of these creatures are real. However, a certain novelty works well enough when considering just how hardcore these animals are when the time calls for it, and DP Larry Fong makes the most of a limited budget.
Stronger as a splatter horror film than an enlightened take on the ramifications of the actions of greedy rich people, Death of a Unicorn may trot in place a bit longer than it needs, given what the audience knows is coming, but it’s at least engaging enough. A bit more grit that would have allowed this A24 film to lean more on the indie side than the Blumhouse direction may have given the film the kick it needed to really land its hoofs with a stronger point to get across. As it stands, the film doesn’t make the magic of unicorns feel any more special. Still, I was happy enough staring at that horn and having fun anticipating the danger that would follow.
The Death of a Unicorn opens in theaters on March 28.
