Death of a Unicorn (2025)


Unicorns are one of those fanciful creatures that seem to pop up in every young girl's room.  There is something beautiful about a perfectly formed equine with a majestic horn that can be entranced by a young maiden.  There are many theories as to how the creatures came to be part of our legends, whether from mistaking another animal in the distance or finding narwhal tusks on a beach and just letting the imagination go from there.  Whatever the case may be they are a staple of our collective fantasy world, just like dragons. 

The thing about unicorns, however, is that majestic as they may be they have never been portrayed as particularly docile creatures.  If one is not said young maiden there is a good chance that the person trying to catch a unicorn is going to experience the business end of that horn.  Also, if one is to hit a unicorn with their car and then abscond with its body, bad things may happen as well. 

Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) are driving to a remote mansion to meet with his boss Odell (Richard E. Grant).  Odell is on his way out and wants to make sure the money for his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter) is properly distributed so that the business continues to function without him.  On the way Elliot is distracted and hits a strange creature.  Ridley grabs its horn and begins experiencing hallucinations, but Elliot decides to bludgeon it to death.

Only, it doesn't die.  It comes back to life when he is meeting with Odell.  Not only that, but the blood from the creature proves to have healing qualities.  After it cures Odell's cancer he is keen to synthesize it for his pharmaceutical company.  Only problem is, he finds out from his lead scientist Dr. Song (Steve Park) that it can't be.  When the juvenile unicorn's parents turn up he thinks at first that his luck has changed, but it turns out that they are not the kind creatures from the storybooks. 

This is Alex Scharfman's first movie.  To his credit he did his research on unicorns.  However, he decided to also make a movie that was Aliens with unicorns.  There are references to James Cameron's 1986 movie all through, with a reference to Alien3 on the poster.  I understand how much he loves that movie, which is probably as much as we all do, but the constant references are not needed.  We are here for the unicorns and to watch them rip a bunch of billionaires to shreds. 

That part is satisfying, as both Richard E. Grant and Will Poulter do a great job of making their characters as despicable as possible.  What isn't satisfying is Jenna Ortega playing a typical mopey teenager.  It's also not a good acting job, as her line delivery is bland and her voice a bit on the squeaky side.  This was primarily filmed before she made Wednesday, so it's obvious she got better afterward.  Paul Rudd tries to do comedy but doesn't pull it off as well as in other movies he has been in.  

Still, I can't understand the absolute hatred this movie is receiving.  It has its flaws, it is derivative, but it still delivers what it promises.  The unicorns are a mix of practical and CGI and they work.  Although they look nominally like horses they are predatory, territorial creatures that have little use for humans.  They would be more frightening if they weren't stand-ins for xenomorphs, but they still get the job done. 

Death of a Unicorn (2025)
Time: 107 minutes
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni
Director: Alex Scharfman

 

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