Death of a Unicorn

Given the clout of A24, its cracking cast and juicy trailer it’s a smidge disappointing that Death of a Unicorn is ‘merely’ a monster movie horror/comedy with… you guessed it, a unicorn (well, unicorns plural) as its misunderstood ‘antagonists’.

There is probably a smarter and artier film to be made here but, having said that, what we have been served is still a lot of fun.

This sort of fare has been done to death but can easily be done badly.

While nothing will likely ever reach the heights of the originators of the form like Alien and Jurassic Park, duds like Cocaine Bear prove that you need substance beyond the good/crazy/original idea.

Death of a Unicorn does offer at least a little of that substance. An easy allegory for the class divide, the corruption of big pharma and the thorny issue of monetising healthcare, this makes some comment on these big themes and gives the real villains there just comeuppance.

However, as much as this is mined for comment as well as laughs, the film is largely a horror-leaning, blood spattered b-movie.

In this, it works. The kills are inventive and gory, the runtime is brisk and there are a few top gags. It just sadly falls in a little with other films of the same type.

It’s easy to like, in large part down to that aforementioned cast. Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd are a dynamic father/daughter pairing but Will Poulter is the MVP in the comedy stakes.

It tries a little too hard with its ‘unicorn-lore’ exposition but it’s a promising directorial debut from Alex Scharfman and a fun trip to the cinema.

It’s clearly in debt to its forebears in the genre (Ortega’s character Ridley clearly named as a Ridley Scott/Ripley hybrid) and, whilst it plays to those conventions, it has fun whilst doing so.

It perhaps could and should have been more than the sum of its substantial parts (in this, A24 have built a rod for their own back with their exceptional quality control) but it should be praised for what it is rather than criticised for what it isn’t.

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