As sad as it is to say, I have been pretty underwhelmed with this year's slate of movies so far. There have been ones I enjoyed a lot like Mickey 17, Paddington in Peru, and Heart Eyes, but nothing has blown me away yet and plenty has underwhelmed. Death of a Unicorn doesn't drastically turn the tides, but it was one I've been looking forward to and did not disappoint.
The latest from A24, Death of a Unicorn follows father and daughter Elliot (Paul Rudd) and Ridley (Jenna Ortega) as they travel into the country for a weekend at the rural estate of Elliot's ailing employer Odell (Richard E. Grant). On the way, Elliot hits an animal with his car, one they ultimately determine to be... you guessed it a unicorn. Odell is the head of a pharmaceutical company, so when he learns of the healing properties the unicorn holds, he, his team of scientists, and his wife and son (Tea Leoni & Will Poulter) all work to use it to make a boatload of money. Sadly, it seems unicorns are not the type to just let something like that slide.
This is exactly the kind of satirical horror-comedy that I just love. It's very heavy handed in its tackling of the greed of the uber wealthy, but while it doesn't say anything necessarily interesting I enjoyed it nonetheless. Narratively it actually winds up feeling a lot like Jurassic Park, hitting similar beats but with pharmaceutical heads instead of a theme park and unicorns instead of dinosaurs. I do think there is some intention behind that, as a few scenes seemed to have visual callbacks as well. This however leans much more into the horror-comedy, offering a film that is entertaining from start to finish and far from lacking in the gore department.
One of the absolute highlights especially on the comedic front is Will Poulter. As the tone deaf trust fund son of Odell, Poulter is hilarious in nearly every scene. He elevates already funny writing and gives it his own brand of charm that you love to hate, making him ultimately a fun character to follow through the horrors of the film. Richard E. Grant is similarly delightful, giving his own charm which hooks you into caring for him despite how money hungry and narcissistic he is. Tea Leoni is also a ton of fun as Odell's wife, but sadly as far as comedic actors go, Paul Rudd didn't necessarily do anything all that impressive to me. Jenna Ortega is covering some similar ground to other roles of hers, but on the whole I thought she did a good job carrying the film in her lead role. Anthony Carrigan and Sunita Mani are also a pair of highlights in small supporting roles.
One thing I've seen critiques for is the effects in the film. We do actually see a lot more of the unicorns that I would have expected, and the CGI bringing them to life isn't always great, but it didn't bother me too much. I'm usually someone easily taken out of a movie bad effects, but I thought they did a good enough job to where it wasn't distracting. A lot of the unicorn moments also come at night, so the darkness works to hide the lower budget a little bit. I actually really enjoyed the whole look of the movie, whether that be the gorgeous estate acting as the setting, or the clever lighting throughout. My biggest issue with the film ultimately lays in the ending. Most of the climax is strong, but it ends on multiple pretty cheesy notes that I don't think entirely fit the edge of the rest of the movie. Aside from that though, this delivered a very fun time with some gruesome unicorn kills and countless hilarious moments. A soft 4/5.
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