On the way to his billionaire boss, a lawyer and his daughter accidentally hit a unicorn with their car in A24’s comedy horror “Death of a Unicorn.” After the billionaire and his family, the Leopolds, learned of the dead unicorn, they attempted to exploit its healing magic, facing the wrath of other murderous unicorns.
The film starred Jenna Ortega as Ridley, the lawyer’s daughter, and Paul Rudd as the lawyer. It was directed and written by Alex Scharfman.
Highs
“Death of a Unicorn” leaned far more into the comedy than the horror. The premise was ridiculous and it leaned into absurdity. The plot only happened because the Leopolds were greedy idiots, and their idiocy was hilarious as it was deadly.
The cast was well equipped for the fun, bloody times as they gave humorous performances. Will Poulter especially stole the show as the petty, shallow Leopold son. With the Leopolds as the centerpoint of the absurdity, the rest of the cast reacted with great chemistry, delivering fear with a satirical edge.
Although the movie was unserious in tone, “Death of a Unicorn” did take its unicorns seriously. Their design was creative and leaned both into whimsy and horror. The horns were especially well designed, akin to ornate blades.
Lows
Jenna Ortega did well with her role as Ridley, however, Ridley was not an exciting character. Ridley was a moody teenager and the most serious character in the film. This made her the most boring out of the eclectic cast. Ortega has played similar but more interesting roles in “Wednesday,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and “X.” Ridley would have been more interesting if she was allowed to be comedic like everyone else or if she were a less familiar archetype.
“Death of a Unicorn” was too safe when it came to its plot, delivering a predictable film. The horror elements were hampered by how easy they were to see coming, although they somewhat made up for it in their gruesomeness. The plot delivered what one would generally expect from the premise and not much more.
The horror was also hampered by the inconsistency with unicorn speeds. There were multiple points where characters somehow outran them despite the fact unicorns were established to be incredibly fast. It made the plot armor obvious which reduced the stakes.
Verdict
“Death of a Unicorn” was a good time with a strong, comedic cast. Though the film was hampered by its predictable plot and misuse of Ortega’s talent. It worked well as a dark comedy, but had the potential for greater satire. Nonetheless, it was an overall fun romp with strange unicorns.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Frank Remski is a review columnist for The Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces. He was named Columnist of the Year by The Echo for his writing in the 2024-2025 school year.
