Release Date – 4th April 2025, Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Alex Scharfman
After hitting a unicorn on the way to the wealthy Leopold family’s estate, father and daughter Elliot (Paul Rudd) and Ridley (Jenna Ortega) struggle to keep their secret, especially when the creature is revealed to have healing powers.
Death Of A Unicorn feels very much inspired by the works of Ruben Östlund. It particularly feels like a response to his Best Picture-nominated Triangle Of Sadness. However, this film, acting as the feature writing and directorial debut of Alex Scharfman, leans much more into an Americanised satire, with jokes much less drawn out. It also doesn’t realise the slight irony of its eat the rich story led by such a starry cast.
Yet, perhaps the biggest issue when it comes to the humour is the fact that the film itself doesn’t have enough bite. While some of the performances do, Will Poulter as a wealthy CEO’s son truly goes for it and gives the standout turn of the film as the man spoilt by riches his whole life, the screenplay doesn’t quite provide enough satirically to truly provide the right push. Yet, there are still some chuckles to be found here and there, particularly as the Leopold family discover not just the unicorn which has been hidden in the back of father and daughter Elliot (Paul Rudd) and Ridley’s (Jenna Ortega) car, after hitting it on the way to the vast estate, but the fact that it has healing powers. With supplies seeming scarce their decision is to keep the secret to themselves and only tell their wealthiest and most unwell friends.
However, what they don’t expect is for more unicorns to turn up, to find the missing member of their pack. With deadly attacks now unfolding there’s a split between saving lives and coming up with a plan to capture the creatures and use them for further gain. As the third act, where much of this is contained, plays out there’s a successfully growing air of tension as the unicorns are shown much more closely. Yes, sometimes the clearly CG nature gets in the way in some instances, but there’s still some suspense and fear factor to them as they prowl corridors or create havoc in the grounds of the Leopold family. All while Ridley, against the trip in the first place and brought along by her lawyer father who wants to show his good family connections to his potential employers, insists that she and her dad try to escape, as she pieces together just how deadly unicorns can be from an ancient tapestry.
While it might not have quite enough bite in regards to its satire, there’s still a watchable nature to Death Of A Unicorn. It sees itself through relatively well, helped by the performances at the centre and a sense of engagement even if it doesn’t always raise the laughs that it may wish for. In fact, the laughs come through best with the more it leans into a sense of horror and the aforementioned terror. The tones might not quite work hand-in-hand, but they certainly compliment each other well and bring out the sharper edges of the narrative and characters. Perhaps because of in-the-moment decisions the upfront nature of what’s happening to everyone at the same time at these points in the second half.
For the most part, there’s enough within Death Of A Unicorn to see it through, especially once its elements are set up. The performances may be more on the attack than the screenplay, but there’s still a solid debut which manages to engage, and has some good effective moments when it leans into its horror in the second half.
Lacking the same bite or scathing nature as its seeming inspirations, Death Of A Unicorn’s cast feel a step above its screenplay, which creates a couple of chuckles here and there, but largely when working alongside its successful later-stage tension.
Just A Little Bit Random 