Death of a Unicorn Review

Death of a Unicorn is a satirical horror-comedy that looks at the lives and reactions of the superrich to a supernatural threat.

Elliot and Ridley Kintner (Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega) are father and daughter who have a strained relationship. The pair had been invited by Elliot’s boss, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), to his wildlife reserve in Canada. During the journey, the Kintner runs over a unicorn whose blood could heal any human ailment. The Leopolds plan to use the discovery for their own benefit but end up being the target for revenge by other unicorns in the reserve.

There has been an increase in “Eat the Rich” movies, like The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, Parasite, and Saltburn, and considering the current political climate, even more films and TV shows are taking aim at the superrich. Death of a Unicorn even played like a mini-version of Succession. Death of a Unicorn was as subtle as a brick regarding its social and political commentary. The Leopolds were made out to be as loathsome as possible. Odell was the old family patriarch; his wife, Belinda (Téa Leoni), acted charitably but justified her morally questionable actions, and their son, Shepard (Will Poulter), was a wannabe tech bro/venture capitalist. Odell dressed up as a big game hunter at one point, and Shepard snorted ground-up unicorn horn like cocaine, which was on the nose.

Death of a Unicorn goes through the usual talking points and criticisms about the superrich. Ridley made a point that the Leopolds entered into philanthropy to improve their image, the Leopolds were only willing to sell the cure to cancer to their wealthy contacts at Davos, and Shepard made his reference to his investments in cryptocurrency and NFTs. Elliot said he was working for the Leopards so he could earn enough money so he and Ridley could live comfortably, but he was getting roped deeper into the family’s schemes. The Leopold’s staff were put upon, with the scientists having their jobs threatened, and their main servant, Griff (Anthony Carrigan), had to do all the work but was ignored during the crisis. Grant and Poulter did play over-the-top characters that made them the most entertaining part of the film.

Ridley was meant to be the character audiences could relate to. She was the voice of reason in the midst of all the chaos. However, she did not give the best impression due to her standoffish personality. She was a Gen-Z uni student who used academic terms to show off how enlightened she was and vaped. Ortega has been great in her previous roles, and she was strong in Death of a Unicorn, but her character felt too similar to Astrid in the Beetlejuice sequel: a misunderstood outsider with parental issues.

Death of a Unicorn was a cabin-in-the-woods story since the characters were stuck in a remote location. This was the third film this year I have seen with this premise, the other two being Wolf Man and Companion. It could be the fourth film if you include Opus, which also showed characters getting taken to a remote compound. I thought of Companion when watching Death of a Unicorn due to the characters going to a rich person’s remote forest home, both films were led by rising starlets and had social commentary. Companion was the better film because its commentary was more biting, and it was funnier than the A24 film.

Death of a Unicorn attempted to be a modern dark fairy tale. Death of a Unicorn centred on a dark twist on a mystical creature, and the film deliberately drew parallels with The Unicorn Tapestries, which was also about a twisted unicorn story. Ridley was cast in the role of a kind-hearted maiden who could understand the unicorns. Ridley was wearing a red hoodie that made her look like Red Riding Hood.

Death of a Unicorn was a try-hard movie with its approach to social commentary and having a central joke of unicorns being slasher villains. However, Death of a Unicorn doesn’t satisfy as a horror, satire, or comedy. Even with its top-tier cast, Death of a Unicorn was a minor offering from A24.