Death of a Unicorn ★★½

The unicorn is a creature widely accepted as being purely mythical, yet they factor heavily into art and literature throughout human history. What if those humans of yesteryear were not being metaphorical and, instead, unicorns are real? Father and daughter Elliot (Paul Rudd) and Ridley Kintner (Jenna Ortega) are headed away for the weekend to a remote estate surrounded by a wildlife reserve. The estate belongs to the wealthy Leopold family, Elliot’s bosses, and the reserve was donated by them. However, nobody expects there to be a family of unicorns lurking in these dense woods, until one pops out onto the road and is struck by the Kintner’s car. After Ridley has a supernatural experience touching its horn, Elliot tries to kill it to put it out of its misery and the pair load the unicorn body into their car. Except, the unicorn is not dead and will soon upstage the weekend’s events at the Leopold home.

Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant) sits atop a massive pharmaceutical company with his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter) heavily involved in the family business, especially as Odell begins to succumb to cancer. Elliot, a lawyer, had been invited up to their home to formalize a relationship that would see him take power of attorney for the family. As Eliot sees it, the move would also secure his own family’s future, especially as he and Ridley continue to mourn the loss of his wife and her mother. Naturally, hitting a unicorn has set the Kintner’s on edge and once it starts to make a ruckus in the car, the Leopold’s and their staff become aware of it and, even more, discover something incredible about the unicorn. As its head was smashed in by Elliot, its purple blood sprayed onto Ridley’s acne-covered face and into Elliot’s eyes and allergy-ridden sinus. As the group now stares at a seemingly dead unicorn in the Leopold’s driveway, they realize: Ridley’s acne is gone and Elliot’s vision has improved and his allergies have cleared. In this unicorn, they have found a potential cure for many ailments and when its blood starts to cure Odell’s cancer, a potential gold mine.

Writer and director Alex Scharfman’s Death of a Unicorn is one of many recent films sending characters to a remote location where chaos ensues, while it also fits the trend of focusing on themes regarding the wealthy and class. As Ridley points out, the Leopold’s are only concerned about themselves and their wealthy friends. They are involved in philanthropy, but only to help their image. When it comes to this unicorn, they have no qualms “using every part of the buffalo” and calling all of their wealthy friends to send them pints of its blood, shavings from its horn, and even flanks of its meat. They are hell-bent on consumption, greed, and shielding this incredible and exclusive (they only have one unicorn) discovery for the betterment of themselves and those in the same class. Their employees, such as butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan) and the medical researchers Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani) and Dr. Song (Steve Park) are left to serve at the beck and call of the Leopold’s, offered none of the benefits of the unicorn, and tasked with all of the risky and gory details of its strip-mining. For them and for Elliot, they stand as examples of the working class and the struggle to balance the need for money and one’s ethics. One may need to work, but the question of whether to compromise one’s morals and beliefs in the process is constantly in focus, especially as Ridley is more socially conscious and constantly challenges her father to stand up for what is right.

Complicating matters further and adding to the fun of Death of a Unicorn is the presence of two other unicorns. As the humans will realize, what they have is a baby and the parents are not too happy to have their offspring captured and used for medicinal purposes. Scharfman does very well handling the lore of unicorns. It is introduced early on via Ridley “connecting” with one by touching its horn and being shown an alternate, mystical universe, then delved into with greater detail via her research into the famed “Unicorn Tapestries.” These works of art are utilized as a guide for the film’s narrative and as a warning of violent retribution that the characters, of course, are too greedy to heed. The special effects and creature design impress, capturing both a genuine sense of wonder and terror whenever needed. As the foretold unicorn attacks come into play, Death of a Unicorn becomes a gory and fun experience with these characters all in the crosshairs of two angry adult unicorns with massive horns and powers beyond human comprehension. The film does take too long getting into the bloody chaos, spending more time setting it up even before the Kintner’s arrive to the Leopold’s home, then more setup as Ridley researches and everyone bickers about what to do, and then trying to hunt down the adult unicorns after an initial encounter. The blood and chaos is where the genre fun is and there is not enough dramatic or thematic heft – even with its ideas on the wealthy, most of them are surface-level and familiar – to carry it through as a consistently entertaining experience. Fortunately, with its climax and final act delivering plenty of that gore, Death of a Unicorn builds toward and ends on a real high point. Following the art-based lore that Ridley discovers exactly does dull some of the surprise, but the thrill and anticipation remains more than potent enough.

Death of a Unicorn benefits considerably from its game cast. Will Poulter is magnificent, stealing the show with a comedic tour de force. Every line is a highlight thanks to his incredible delivery and the film’s sharp comedic writing with Poulter capturing the right buffoonish, smarmy, and self-involved nature of a spoiled rich kid trying to feel his way through his nepotism-given position at a company he barely understands. Richard E. Grant and Téa Leoni impress as well with Grant really coming into his own as a sharp-witted comedic presence once Odell is cured while Leoni’s delivery and mix of false sincerity and upper-class arrogance give Belinda’s role both authenticity and humor. Leoni is best when playing off of Poulter with her often vacuous Belinda feeling quite sincere when countered by the horribly distant and cruel Shepard. When it comes to the Kintner’s, Death of a Unicorn struggles. Their scenes become repetitive and with the funnier satirical side centered on the Leopold’s, the Kintner’s can be more of a drag both emotionally and pacing-wise. In the end, the poignancy in their story as a grieving father and daughter who finally find common ground is more than enough to evoke effective pathos, while Ortega’s characteristically charming and honest persona is well utilized. Rudd is more of a mixed bag, struggling more in the often against type dramatic scenes he has, but excelling in the comedy of manners material he has with the Leopold’s. Though a smaller role, Anthony Carrigan’s Griff gets a few scenes to really shine as well, particularly as comedic relief.

Alex Scharfman’s Death of a Unicorn is a funny and surprisingly gory film, a creature feature that shows even unicorns can be capable of blood and carnage. Thematically familiar and a bit too long, but benefitting from fun characters, a game cast, and some touching character developments, Death of a Unicorn finds enough of a niche in the oft-trodden “eat the rich” trend to be a good time.