Running Time: 104 minutes
This motion picture from A24 opens exclusively in theaters on March 28th.
The notion of a mythical creature appearing unexpectedly and causing a wide variety of reactions (from curiosity and wonder, to vanity, greed and a selfish desire to own) is a fantastic concept for a feature. Death of a Unicorn has such a great premise that it’s too bad it never manages to develop the idea to its fullest potential. Alas, it’s one of those could-have-been-great films that ends up missing the mark. It doesn’t break much new ground and ends up a disappointment.
Ridley Kintner (Jenna Ortega) is a moody college student unhappy to be forced into a business trip with her dad, Elliot (Paul Rudd). He’s a lawyer who has been asked to visit the remote wilderness mansion of dying pharmaceutical magnate Odell (Richard E. Grant) and help with his estate. This is a major client that could help Elliott tremendously in his career. But on the way there, the father and daughter strike a unicorn dead with their car. The lawyer throws the carcass in the trunk and races to the meeting, acting like everything is fine. However, the beast starts moving, drawing the attention of Odell, his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter). When they realize the unicorn may have regenerative properties, the opportunistic family immediately takes advantage of the situation. However, it soon becomes clear that this lifeform isn’t alone. More unicorns arrive at the estate and hunt down the group.
There are issues right from the start as Ridley and Elliot make their way north. The pair have lost the family matriarch and the father has become work-obsessed, causing tension in their relationship, but the tone early on is odd. Several elements of the opening act are intended to be humorous, even after the nasty accident. In fact, the father makes so many ridiculous decisions (including his hiding of the large unicorn, and trying to act like nothing has happened even when it starts thrashing around in front of everyone), that it’s hard to suspend disbelief or relate to the leads.
This reviewer always tries to give the filmmakers a chance to make up for a clumsy opening act, but things don’t improve much from there. Despite being a ruthless industry leader with an equally self-centered family, the hosts don’t come across as cunning, nor clever. Son Shepard is so arrogant and blunt that he earns a few chuckles here and there. However, most of the characters in the film (with the exception of Ridley and one staff member) are so dense, it’s hard to think any of them would be this well-positioned in their fields. You can have one or even two numbskulls in a story as comic relief, but when the majority of the characters are written this way, it is a problem. The irrational behavior and decisions seem forced in order to move the plot forward, wasting a great cast.
Eventually, the movie turns into a series of unicorn attacks. Admittedly, it is funny to see the fantastic creatures take their revenge on the humans. Their pointy horns are used frequently to impale victims and some of the violent deaths earn a smile, but many of the CGI effects leave something to be desired. Shots of individuals being chased around the property and through the mansion by the horned beasts don’t look convincing.
The movie also tries to insert heartfelt discussions about loss and life-beyond-death during the finale, but even these sweet notions come across as confusing and contradictory to previous story points. Given this is a movie about killer unicorns, I don’t want to harp on plot holes too much, but the script doesn’t resolve itself in a satisfactory manner.
Death of a Unicorn experiments with a unique monster and delivers a couple of bizarrely entertaining moments, but the tone and attempts at humor aren’t quite on target, and the characters frustrate more than they engage. Despite having the potential to address bigger themes in an original or humorous way, it resorts to the usual horror tropes. In the end, the film doesn’t wow, enchant or even deliver the nightmarish weirdness one would hope for.