Death of a Unicorn film review: don’t deep this A24 comedy-horror
Ever since it premiered at SXSW last month, Death Of A Unicorn has been generating buzz. Produced by studio du jour A24, who brought us offbeat classics like Heretic and Everything Everywhere All At Once, it is an interesting prospect. But at a time when riskier stories have struggled to find an audience, is it worthy of its festival hype?
Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play Elliott and Ridley, a father and daughter trying to reconnect after a tragedy. Elliott takes Ridley on a business trip to see his employers, a wealthy family who live in a remote location in the country. On their way to their home they hit an animal with Elliott’s car. It turns out to be a unicorn, one whose blood possesses magical healing properties. Initially, Elliott and his employers excitedly harvest the remains hoping to monetise it. Soon, however, other mythical creatures come looking for revenge.
Death of a Unicorn: A24 return with a light horror-comedy that doesn’t offer much below the surface
You don’t have to be a genius to work out the metaphors at play here. The social satire is laid on rather thick about our greedy use of natural resources, as well as the ever-so-topical subject of Big Pharma making healing a privilege of the wealthy. While these are worthy messages, the film chooses to shout them from the rooftops rather than weave them between the lines.
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As well as being loud, the conclusions are also rather blunt. If you’re looking for an intelligent take on these issues, you might leave disappointed. Indeed, the involvement of hip studio A24 may lead some to assume there is more beneath the surface, when it’s perhaps best enjoyed as a comedy-horror romp. It certainly doesn’t have the depth of recent A24 triumph, wrestling movie Iron Claw.
While the script might bite off a bit more than it can chew, in general the film has a lot of fun throwing ideas at the screen. The notion of the usually graceful unicorns being snarling monsters, or existing at all in a semi-realistic setting, requires big leaps of faith that both director Alex Scharfman and the cast take on with gusto.
In a Hollywood where often new ideas are deemed poison, anything that dares to be different is commendable.
Death of a Unicorn is in cinemas now
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