**This review contains MINOR spoilers**
The Story- During a business trip with his daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), Elliot (Paul Rudd) hits a unicorn with his rental car. Nervous and determined to make a good impression on his boss, Odell (Richard E. Grant), his wife, Belinda (Tea Leoni), and their son, Shepard (Will Poulter), Elliot decides to hide the body in the back of the car, but the unicorn suddenly awakes, sparking a series of chaotic events. Survival becomes the main goal, when the unicorn’s parents arrive at Odell’s ranch, determined to retrieve their child. Can Ridley’s research save Elliot, Odell, his family, and the others?
My Thoughts- Blood, guts, and unicorns! I’ll admit, I’m not an expert on unicorns, or the mythology behind them, so putting those words together sounds strange. Whimsical, mysterious, or majestic? Going by everything I’ve seen over the years, whether it’s in movies, TV shows, or commercials, that’s what pops into my head, when I think about unicorns.
Sure, you can see the awe-inspiring aura for the unicorns throughout the movie. There’s no denying that, but when the parents enter the picture, things change. We’re introduced to two large and ferocious beasts. Yeah, you CAN wound the unicorns. Maybe you can slow them down to buy yourself some more time to run and hide. The “if it bleeds, we can kill it” approach doesn’t work here, adding another layer to how the unicorns are presented as an unstoppable force. Lots of purple blood from the unicorns is spilled after Elliot hits the child, and guess what? The humans (the bad ones) pay the price with their lives.
It’s impossible to ignore the hilarity of watching everyone running from unicorns, because, well, they’re unicorns. But writer/director Alex Scharfman still manages to toe the line in a way, where escaping the unicorns never looks too silly or goofy. The unicorns are a dangerous and deadly threat. It’s true you can look at the galloping creatures with a big smile and a stunned wide-eyed expression, but they’re also capable of easily ripping your guts out. Unicorns in Death Of A Unicorn are treated with the highest levels of respect. Also, the lore and the mythology for the unicorns is just excellent, telling the story of a mystical and brutal past, filled with rich details and clever tales about the history between humans and unicorns.
Elliot? In the early stages of the movie, you’ll get the impression the guy is just a shameless ass-kisser. He’s a pushover, who’s willing to do anything to get the seal of approval from Odell and his family. But towards the end, you’ll see a man and a father, who’s just trying to do his best. Maybe he went about doing it the wrong way, but Elliot swore to honor a promise to Ridley’s mother.
Paul Rudd is genuinely hilarious here. Elliot is goofy. He’s constantly nervous and walking on eggshells, and Elliot is kind of a klutz. But Rudd has more believable serious moments, when he has to protect Ridley, and when Elliot finally realizes he’s just an expendable asset for Odell, Shepard, and Belinda.
Jenna Ortega’s character is a bit cliched. Ridley is a bratty teenager, who’s not afraid to speak her mind, and she’s into vaping! But you’ll also see there’s more to her character as the story progresses. Ridley is smart. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, and Ridley quickly realizes Odell and his family are nothing more than rich and greedy snobs. She’s rebellious, but we’re also talking about a kid, who’s still hurting inside, because she misses her mom.
Ortega delivers a noticeably confident performance, and she brings some good humor to Ridley. The awkward and rocky bonding experience between Ridley and Elliot is one the bigger highlights for this one. Lots of good laughs, and a satisfying full circle ending during the home stretch of the movie.
Odell, Shepard, and Belinda? They’re all terrible people. It’s easy to feel sympathy for Odell. He’s old, he’s sick, he’s dying, and he’s a fragile dude, who’s one bad fall away from kicking the bucket. But Odell shows his true colors after receiving a big boost from hefty amounts of blood from the baby unicorn. He’s a nasty and greedy old man. A dying man should use his second chance at life to be more appreciative and cherish the world around him more, right? Nope. Odell is too wrapped up in his massive ego. After everything that happened in the woods, Odell thinks it’s perfectly okay to try and touch the unicorn’s horn? Idiot.
Tea Leoni plays the sympathetic figure in the family. Yes, she’s complicit in the family’s ill deeds, and she’s a pompous and pretentious character. But Belinda actually cares about her husband and her son. Leoni hams it up with Belinda’s exaggerated accent to the point, where you’ll either laugh, or start shaking your head at how silly it is, but she still delivers a solid overall performance.
Will Poulter easily steals the show here. Poulter embodies everything you’d expect from a rich and spoiled brat as Shepard. He’s entitled, whiny, a coward, and on top of all that, Shepard’s personality is a mix of an annoying douchebag frat boy and a cocky dude-bro. From one scene to the next, Poulter’s performance is truly fun to watch, as the situation spirals out of control. The guy actually gets hooked on snorting and smoking unicorn parts to replace his bad drug habit. Priceless.
Odell and his family had the chance to do the right thing. You find UNICORNS, creatures that have blood that’s full of magical healing powers, blood that also has the ability to cure cancer. Saving lives should’ve been the top priority, but they only had one main goal: profit. But what else would you expect from a group of wealthy elitists, completely disconnected from the real world, while living in a large estate with servants, who are ready to obey any commands without any real resistance.
Odell, Shepard, and Belinda? They all got what they deserved in the end. Poetic justice hits hard for Odell and his family. It’s also hilariously ironic, when you remember the nature preserve is named after Odell. Protecting the unicorns would’ve been so much easier and simple, but having a god complex was his downfall.
The CGI and the special effects for the unicorns loses its wow factor during the daytime scenes, but Death Of A Unicorn is still a good film. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega share terrific chemistry as a father/daughter duo. The cast is excellent from top to bottom, including performances from Sunita Mani, Stephen Park, and Jessica Hynes. Anthony Carrigan’s Griff is one of the more entertaining characters here. Griff is a jittery mess, the butler, who’s scared of disobeying his employers. But Griff has his moments towards the end, when he finally decides to stand up for himself.
Consistent laughs, a handful of gnarly kills and death scenes, lots of blood and gore, and an emotional story about a father and his daughter trying to live a normal life again after a tragedy. Death Of A Unicorn checks off more than enough boxes for a wild and bizarre horror comedy.
And I can’t forget about the strong similarities to Jurassic Park, just Replace raptors with unicorns, complete with bloody and graphic death scenes. There’s also a scene that’s eerily similar to a scene from The Lost World. Julianne Moore, Jeff Goldblum, and Vince Vaughn are together. They’re nervous, and they’re trying to return the baby T-Rex to his parents, hoping it’ll be a smooth peace offering transaction. Well, Ridley comes up with a plan that mirrors what happened in The Lost World. But the big difference is, poor Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani) doesn’t have the luxury of relying on a skilled and experienced team to save her.
Rating- 9/10
