For decades, “creature features” have terrified audiences. Whether it’s “Jaws” making people afraid to swim in the ocean or “Jurassic Park” instilling a fear of dinosaurs that have been extinct for millions of years, these films have a way of scaring viewers. However, there may be one animal that seems impossible to make scary: the unicorn.
“Death of a Unicorn” follows Elliot, played by Paul Rudd, and his daughter Ridley, played by Jenna Ortega, who accidentally run over and kill a wild unicorn on their way to a business retreat. This leads to Elliot’s boss Odell, played by Richard E. Grant, and his family attempting to extract the creature’s magic, only for chaos to ensue.
By far the best part of the film is its outlandishly hilarious and creative premise. There is a sense of unpredictability that comes from the uniqueness of the story, and it makes 107 minutes feel like 30.
A lot of this also comes from the story’s dedication to establishing a compelling lore around the group of unicorns that is introduced. It gives a justification to their brutality, which opens the door to the untapped, wide-ranging and morbidly entertaining world of killer unicorns.
Another highlight is the performance of Will Poulter as Odell’s son, Shepard. Poulter’s comedic timing is by far the best of the cast, and he creates the movie’s funniest and most entertaining moments. Unfortunately, as for the positives, that’s about it.
Perhaps the most surprising shortcoming of the movie is how unlikable almost all of the characters are. Elliot and Ridley are meant to be the rational counterparts to Odell’s greedy family, but that idea is executed horrifically. Rudd comes across painfully incompetent as a father, and Ortega fails to escape the moody teen typecast that she has fallen into over the past few years.
On top of this, the film struggles to maintain a streamlined narrative. While the runtime feels short, that doesn’t change the fact that it does drag its feet at certain points. Coming up with a plan to defeat the unicorns and then watching it fail and going back to the drawing board can only be entertaining so many times.
Another negative is that the film thinks it’s much funnier than it actually is. It feels necessary to add a pinch of humor to a story that gets surprisingly dark, but it’s done in ways that come across as obnoxious.
Most of the comedy comes from Odell’s family, with the script clearly trying to emulate the rich snarkiness of works like “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” However, aside from Poulter, none of it works.
Additionally, the ending is as messy as it gets. It feels like there were a number of different possibilities to wrap up the story, and the writers just kind of threw all of them at the wall and hoped one stuck.
“Death of a Unicorn” as a whole is a mixed bag. While it is infused to the core with originality, that doesn’t change the fact that there are numerous areas in which the movie fails. Nonetheless, if you can look past these shortcomings and enjoy the absurdity of people being speared with unicorn horns, then there is a good time to be had.
