“Death of a Unicorn” (2025)
A24 is back in their weird indie stride with their first big release of 2025!
“Death of a Unicorn” is not perfect by any means, but it is a fun way to spend a couple hours and does a compelling but shallow dive into the mythology of unicorns.
Paul Rudd is Elliot, a lawyer who is going to his rich client’s estate in the middle of a nature preserve in Canada on the promise of elevating his stature in the client’s financial affairs.
One of the caveats is that he must bring along his daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), to prove that they fit in with the privileged Leopold family (Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni and Will Poulter).
It is clear from the start that they don’t fit in, especially Ridley.
On the drive to the estate, Elliot engages in some distracted driving and hits a creature in the road that is quickly revealed to be a unicorn. They try to keep it hidden from the authorities and the Leopolds, but the unicorn comes back to life in the trunk of their car, making a big racket.
When Ridley’s acne disappears and Elliot’s allergies stop holding him back, the Leopolds decide to capitalize on that by bringing in a team of medical professionals to test the unicorn and extract some blood and horn shavings for them to try themselves.
Meanwhile, Ridley does her research into the history and mythology of unicorns, finding some troubling stories. Everyone else pretty much dismisses her until things start going awry.
I personally love mythology and wish we had gotten a little more of that in “Death of a Unicorn.” Perhaps they can make a prequel?
There were a lot of great eat-the-rich-style kills in this horror comedy movie, something that may feel cathartic to some in the times we are living in.
As much as the film tried to give some logic and backstory to the unicorns, it didn’t quite fully flesh things out as much as I would’ve liked, and I would say the movie is overall a little lacking in character development all the way around.
I cared about Ridley and Elliot because they were played by Ortega and Rudd, two of my favorite actors, not really because of any appreciation I had for their specific characters.
I think the biggest thing to weigh when debating whether or not to watch “Death of a Unicorn” is this: Do you like zany A24 horror comedy films? If yes, get yourself to a theater for this wild ride. Otherwise, you can safely skip this.