From the mind of Alex Scharfman, A24’s Death of A Unicorn is a creature feature comedy that follows Elliot Kinter (Paul Rudd) and his teenage daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) on a very important work weekend at a remote estate with Elliot’s boss. On their way through the mountains, Elliot hits an animal and realizes it’s a unicorn. Unsure about what to do, Elliot packs the seemingly dead unicorn into his rental car and continues his way to the estate.

Once at the estate, Ridley is still in shock about what transpired, and Elliot is trying to disguise what happened on his way there. It’s not too long before the cat is out of the bag leading to the Leopold family realizing there’s a unicorn on their property. While all the hysteria is going on, Ridley points out that the unicorn blood, which got on her face, cured her acne.  

The Leopolds take the unicorn to their scientists and look for ways to extract more healing power from the creature in hopes of curing Odell Leopold’s (Richard E Grant) cancer while also exploiting the creature’s healing properties to make billions. However, as the night continues, things with the unicorn don’t go as planned.  

There are very few surprises in Alex Scharfman’s film. It’s a straightforward comedy about a very unlikeable billionaire family, a father and daughter trying to repair their relationship, and the magical lore of unicorns. For some reason, this genre bending combination works really well and is also cynical satirical look at the way billionaires operate in the world. It’s a tightrope of social commentary and comedy that Scharfman balances well.  

Having an A-list cast certainly helps. Oretga and Rudd make an excellent father/daughter duo, Tea Leioni as the matriarch with her subtle comedic timing is perfect. Will Poulter plays the rich son/trust fund kid very well, Richard E Grant delivers an out-of-touch billionaire only concerned about himself, and Anthony Carrigan (HBO’s Barry) is laugh out loud funny as the butler. There isn’t a singular breakout performance, but as an ensemble cast, they all deliver the comedy the film needs, especially when some of the horror elements make their way into the story.  

The unicorn portion of the film is so over-the-top, it’s funny even when the film plays with horror elements. For some audiences, how silly and the frenzied nature of the film may be enough to take them out of the film. For them, the absurdity of what’s happening on screen will add to their enjoyment of the film.

It’s difficult to describe exactly what Death of A Unicorn is. It’s a fantasy that goes into the lore of unicorns, and then takes some big swings in its storytelling. Underneath all the magic, It’s a film about grief and how we try to put our lives back together. It’s also a cynical look people having the opportunity to do good and the choices their willing to make. One thing it is for sure – the movie is funny and wildly entertaining. It’s one of those films that creates a world/reality and drops the audience in the middle to have an experience and hopefully think about a few things.

Grade: B