This review may contain spoilers!
Death of a Unicorn is a fantastical horror-comedy in which Elliot and his daughter, Ridley, venture out to a wilderness retreat owned by Elliot's billionaire boss. Unfortunately, plans go awry when Elliot hits a unicorn on the way to the retreat, unravelling the horrors that come with discovering the existence of a mythological beast.
This is a film that many people will see because of its utterly wild premise. It's not very common for a unicorn to be the centre of a darker genre like horror, so the novelty of this is quite fun. I'd go a step further here after watching this and say the fantasy elements of Death of a Unicorn is what was worth seeing it for. There is a big question mark over the unicorns. What does their very existence mean for us? Across the film, I wanted to know what powers they had, or how they might act or better yet, exactly what purpose did the unicorns serve? Is their magical presence for something? The rewarding thing about the mystery at the core of all the magic is that we can really steadily get the answers or infer them from what the film is showing us. It's a very real point of intrigue in the movie, and I greatly enjoyed getting lost in that fantasy aspect.
The score for this film feels very experimental and downright unnerving at times. I felt the music tailored for this feature really uncoupled us from the world we knew and contributed the most to the moments in which the unicorns felt unsettling.
Paul Rudd, who played Elliot, has a very natural charisma that makes you want to root for him; at the same time, Rudd also presents a pretty interesting performance of a weak-willed father who picks his ambition over his daughter nearly every time. Anthony Carrigan, who played Griff, might not be front and centre of this film, but steals more than a few scenes; Carrigan has a real talent for subtly inserting his own brand of comedy into a scene. Téa Leoni, who played Belinda, is the only actress who understood how to present a ridiculous billionaire character; Leoni really finds a way to balance the comedy and absurdity of her role in a way that appeals to an audience.
However, the best performance came from Jenna Ortega, who played Ridley. Ridley is a very outspoken role that fits neatly into Ortega's wheelhouse. She doesn't let anything slide and tries to combat the ignorance of her Dad and his employers across the whole film. Ortega plays to Ridley's more rough-around-the-edges habits in a very grounded manner, meaning that even if she is the one cussing others out, you are almost always rooting for her. This is a character grounded in empathy. Ortega plays Ridley as the one who tries to understand the unicorns and the balance of nature the most, making her a very sincere person. Ortega also does incredibly in the horror genre; her reactions in a terrifying scene pull you in.
Death of a Unicorn is another foray into the peculiar for A24, or at least that's how it presents itself. But the truth is a tad more disappointing. This film is really trying to pull off a clever dark comedy about capitalism and the greed of billionaires without ever really managing to achieve that whole 'clever' part. The comedy in this film is very exaggerated or downright obvious, delivered by characters who don't naturally evoke very funny moments. I really can't believe that in a market over-saturated with good stories dealing with themes of capitalism, billionaires and financial imbalance, this film managed to present such a theme like a dull, blunt instrument. Death of a Unicorn feels more like a bumbling, low-brow American comedy that doesn't naturally fit into the A24 portfolio. The fact that this film builds the whole story around a tapestry presented by a character and then presents the story identically from that makes the whole concept feel a bit simple too. Even more emotional matters, such as Elliot performing an about-turn and shaping up as a father, don't feel particularly earned. In fact, it's a very sudden and late point of the film that does nothing to endear the audience to Elliot. The ending for Death of a Unicorn feels quite sudden and doesn't leave the viewer feeling entirely satisfied with the conclusion either.
I don't know how a movie with such a fun premise and good-looking location wound up looking so bland as a film. The way this thing is shot is remarkably dull and simplistic, and the horror sequences are far too blocky. Even the special effects, which the film really hinges on, are a huge letdown. The design of the unicorns isn't especially appealing, and they don't sit nicely within a scene. The soundtrack for the feature is pretty absent, and when it does kick in, the music on it feels lifeless.
Richard E. Grant, who played Odell, just doesn't know when to play things more restrained and when to oversell it; Grant prances around a set waffling through his lines without landing much of an impression. Will Poulter, who played Shepard, doesn't know how to play this character any other way than over the top; Poulter really brings this film down to dim-witted comedy territory. Jessica Hynes, who played Shaw, is really wasted in a henchwoman with a gun type of role; Hynes gives no range of emotion across this whole thing. Sunita Mani and Steve Park, who played Dr. Bhatia and Dr. Song respectively, are relatively boring as the generic scientist characters; even with a bit more screentime, Mani fails to be a bigger player within the cast.
The latest A24 promises a lot but delivers almost none of it, opting instead for a more traditional half-baked American comedy. I would give Death of a Unicorn a 5.5/10.
