SPOILER ALERT
“Death of a Unicorn” is an A24 horror/dark comedy film starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as a father/daughter duo. The film is the perfect split of horror and comedy, mixing killer unicorns with an out-of-touch rich family. The movie starts off a little shaky and leans into its fantasy title, but it quickly lands on its feet and is sure of itself for the rest of the film. With mythical creatures, it is easy to get carried away in ridiculousness, but the movie took itself as seriously as it could. This helped the film to maintain a nice middle ground. If it was not already established before viewing that there would be unicorns, some scenes could be mistaken for a “Jurassic Park” sequel. The killer unicorns were no joke. There were minimal jump scares but a lot of gore, which probably coined its horror title. The unicorns’ murders were creative, utilizing their horns to do most of the damage. Beyond their horns, they managed to continue the gore, tossing and ripping people in half like it was nothing.
The storyline was well-written with obvious messaging. The rich family wants to use the unicorns for their magical properties, especially because the father is a cancer patient. They think the unicorn could cure cancer and bring in money by curing others. This can be connected to themes seen in the real world where poachers make money exploiting innocent animals.
The unicorns, which were made by computer-generated imagery (CGI), looked relatively realistic throughout the film. The quality of the first baby unicorn doesn’t look as good as the others, but its parents look much cleaner. Since the baby unicorn is the one discussed in the title, it is sidelined for most of the film while its parents avenge it, aiming to eventually bring it back to life. The adult unicorns have dark fur and are mostly in dark lighting, making it harder for them to look bad. But toward the end when we can see them in lighter shot scenes, they still look good, a testament to the CGI work.
Of course, Ortega and Rudd give great performances. Ortega is no stranger to the horror genre from starring in movies like “Scream” (2022) and “X,” to the television series, “Wednesday.” In this movie, her character has a special connection to the unicorns. It is a little far-fetched, but it works when you remember you are watching a film about murderous mythical creatures. How much can be unbelievable after that? The trope did not take anything away from the film, especially because there would be no reason for the unicorns to leave her alone if she did not have some connection with them.
The unsung star of the show is Will Poulter by a mile – he stole every scene. He is easily the funniest character in the movie, doing most of the comedic lifting on his own. His timing and deliveries are perfect; it is almost sad to watch him die.
The score, composed by Dan Romer and Giosuè Greco, is something to be applauded. It fits the tone of the movie perfectly and was overall so well done.
In its opening weekend, “Death of a Unicorn” made just under $6 million according to Deadline.
Fans of the film can look forward to more work from Ortega with her new film, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” releasing in May, and Poulter, who has two films, “Warfare” and “On Swift Horses,” dropping later in April.
