Death of a Unicorn

We all love unicorns but audiences weren’t ready for them to be vicious. Death of a Unicorn is an absurd horror-comedy-fantasy that clearly wasn’t made for everyone, but it was made for me, and I loved it.

The comedy leans dark and deadpan rather than laugh-out-loud, peppered with moments of gore, flashes of genius, but also some undeniably spotty CGI. Still, the film knows what it is. The performances are a highlight: Jenna Ortega is as reliable as ever; Will Poulter brings an affably blank charm; Téa Leoni is downright exquisite; and while Sunita Mani and Anthony Carrigan are criminally underused, they still leave an impression. Paul Rudd, surprisingly, not only plays well with the ensemble, but doesn’t steal every scene.

The pacing lags at times and the tone wobbles between satire and sincerity, but as a debut feature from writer-director Alex Scharfman, there’s real quirky promise. I was thoroughly entertained and unexpectedly excited by the horny beasts, the mystical cosmic threads underpinnings, and the feel-good warmth the film ultimately delivers.

Oh—and it was produced by Ari Aster. That explains a lot of the delightful weirdness.