Death of a Unicorn
Written and directed by Alex Scharfman
Starring Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour and 48 minutes
In theaters on Friday March 28

by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

In a year that has, so far, been completely middling in its releases, here is yet another mediocre and completely forgettable film from an independent studio that is often praised for its quality releases. Even with a stand out cast who are often praised for their performances, there is little to get excited about in Death of a Unicorn. It is not terrible, but it certainly doesn’t rise above mediocrity, which in a year full of duds is almost worse as it will be completely forgotten. It’s a film that is much better as a concept, and even though it jam packs the story with fantasy, horror, and comedy, it still finds ways to bore and make you beg for the end.

Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) are on their way to spend the weekend with Elliot’s ultra rich boss and his family. While en route, they accidentally hit a unicorn in the road. This strange event sets the tone for their whole weekend as they begin to realize that this magical roadkill might actually be a cash cow.

“Eat the Rich” films have given us plenty of gems in the past few years (Parasite, The Menu, Knives Out), but many have become rather toothless and feel like an easy cash grab more than anything. In a country where we have ultra rich buffoons causing harm to so many, we need something more. Or perhaps studios are just placating malleable audiences in the hopes they can release their aggressions through these fantasies as opposed to actually engaging in any meaningful social revolution. Death of a Unicorn simply feels like another film made to engage with a popular trend, as opposed to an interesting and engaging piece of art.

While there are some genuinely interesting ideas within the film, the execution makes it hard to appreciate. We haven’t seen unicorns play ultra-violent creatures before, which at moments is fun. But the splatters are often too few and far between to enjoy, and the creature design and CGI are nothing special. There are also some deaths that could have been entertaining, but the film’s lighting is far too dark to actually see or appreciate anything. With all of our technological advancements, it's amazing how hard it is for filmmakers to properly light a nighttime scene.

Going in I had already heard some less than stellar reviews, but I hoped that I could turn my brain off and, worst case, enjoy Paul Rudd, who is typically the shining light in whatever he does. Unfortunately the movie gives a charismatic comedic actor like Rudd absolutely nothing to do. He is wasted as the feckless sniveling father. The same goes for Jenna Ortega who has become a darling in the horror community over the last few years Neither are doing anything particularly interesting and their back and forth becomes exhausting after the first 40 minutes.

Richard E. Grant and Téa Leoni are able to have some fun as the ultra rich sociopaths, but even they aren’t doing anything particularly interesting or different from other performances we have seen in other films. The stand out is truly Will Poulter, who managed to toe the line between a vapid rich kid concerned with status, and a man whose status makes him inhuman and therefore terrifying. He has an energy that brightens up all the scenes he is in. Besides him, the other notable performance is Anthony Carrigan, who plays the family's disgruntled butler.

I will give the film credit in that it does subtly show some ways in which we can delude ourselves into believing we can be accepted by the 1%, as well as highlighting how inhumane these people can be. And it does show how easily we can be implicated in holding up the status quo even when we say we want to fight against it. These are very small elements in the movie, but in a film that is packed with far too much, these more subtle moments end up being the most interesting.

In the end, Death of a Unicorn simply has too much going on. The film wants to be a comedic social satire, bloody creature feature, and a heartwarming family drama all in one, failing to be any of them. This also makes identifying what audience this movie is really for difficult. Whatever algorithms studios are using to figure out what films will rack in the cash, it really missed the ball on this one.

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