Death of a Unicorn is a new A24 film that released in theater this weekend. The film stars Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant. When a man and his daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn with their car, his boss tries to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties – with horrific results.

Much like a large group of cinephile’s, I am a big fan of A24’s films. No distributor is guaranteed to have a hit after hit. As of lately, I am growing concerned. With films like Y2K and Opus, I have been questioning the trajectory at how weird can we get while delivering on themes. Those are only two recent films out of a tremendous library of work, but it’s worth noting as it feels like this one continues the trend at completely missing the mark at telling a story full of meaning while getting as strange as humanly possible. The mixed reviews did worry me going in, which is fitting as I felt completely mixed as I walked out from seeing this.

To start out the film, we have two of the best and most likable talent working today between Paul Rudd & Jenna Ortega. Even though I tried my best to stay away from what the film was about, the star power leading the film sold me. Unfortunately, the lack of character development gives you little to care for. Jenna Ortega plays a character she’s done before: a bitter, misunderstood teenager. Her character goes on to try to be the soul of the film as she tries to explain everything to the audience, which can get tedious fast. Paul Rudd somehow plays the most unlikable character I have ever seen from him for no reason. I get these characters are still reeling over the death of a loved one, but his character seems completely unfit to be a dad.

While I could take or leave the rest of the cast, it’s Will Poulter & Anthony Carrigan who stand out the most. Poulter has come a long way with his talents, making him feel perfectly cast as the role of a selfish, rich son. His comedic timing also delivers most of the laughs, but his decent into becoming the antagonist makes him an interesting character. Anthony Carrigan plays as the rich family’s butler. Viewers may be familiar with his work from HBO’s Barry. Viewers, like myself, also recognize his comedic timing, which is perfect for this film. These two characters help keep the film interesting and engaging.

It’s rather unfortunate that a film like this has to stand out with two side characters when the film really wants to focus on its themes and violence. The film wears its influences on its sleeve. There were several clear ripoff scenes from Jurassic Park. I’m not going to lie. It was cool, but when the film shifts between being a dark comedy and horror, it can lose a little bit of its identity. As many others have been saying, the film wants to show how bad rich people are. I’m going to have to agree with others when I say this film has nothing new to say about the subject.

I guarantee you this film was born out of pandemic. With a limited cast and singular location, the film never gets the opportunity to truly take off. The singular location never immerses you into the situation, making the film look fake and not letting it feel realistic. That might sound silly when the film has unicorns, but the unicorns themselves even lack visually. I hope as we shift away from the pandemic, there can be stories that can actually take off by looking and feel real to help get its point across.

Even with the film’s flaws, I was mostly enjoying this. I could, and still can, see this becoming a cult classic one day. With its offbeat humor and dark tone, I can see this giving viewers the right entertainment. Structurally, for me, it’s all over the place. The end, however, fumbles the bag, bringing what I would consider a good movie to a movie that’s simply okay that I don’t think I will ever watch again.

SPOILER

Tonally, the ending feels unfitting. Ortega’s character gets her dad back after he died, which just didn’t feel earned. Earlier in the film, the family’s butler, played by Carrigan, ran out from the house to get help. When the father and daughter are finally safe, the butler shows back up with police… and the police believe these two people slaughtered everyone else…? Why? There’s zero motive. It’s to be funny for comedic sake. It leads to the unicorns chasing the father and daughter down to help them escape, resulting a car crash. Once again, why? What’s going to happen to the father and daughter? Why did the butler feel like he needed to take down the father and daughter when his employers, who are now dead, were awful to him? It makes zero sense. It was rushed and needed more time to develop.

Overall, Death of a Unicorn has moments that shine through to cover its flaws, but its ending lacks purpose. The film certainly misses the mark with its themes. Half of the characters feel underdeveloped, while the other half shine. This is a film that will rightfully become a cult classic in the future. For me, this isn’t one I will ever be revisiting.

VERDICT: 2.5/5 (Okay)