By: Terrence Melvin II
The Death of a Unicorn review begins with a blunt truth: this movie is weird. Not the kind of weird you politely nod at during film school panels—actual, unicorn-roadkill-on-the-hood weird. Directed by Alex Scharfman in his debut feature, this A24 horror-comedy fuses satire, folklore, and dysfunctional family drama with the subtlety of a glitter bomb at a funeral. And somehow, it works… most of the time.
👉 Before we dive into the full chaos, check out the Death of a Unicorn trailer for a taste of the madness.
Death of a Unicorn Review: The Premise Is as Wild as the Title
At the center of Death of a Unicorn is the accidental killing of a glowing mythical creature by Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) on their way to a corporate wellness retreat. They hit it, throw it in the backseat, and proceed like nothing totally insane just happened. That’s the tone. You’re either in or you’re not.
Rudd plays Elliot with his usual deadpan charisma, while Ortega once again proves she’s the queen of dark Gen Z snark. Their father-daughter dynamic carries the emotional weight of the film, grounding the absurdity in genuine grief and reluctant connection.
If you’re into dark, satirical genre-benders like this, don’t miss our Sinners movie review—another wild ride worth your screen time.
Unicorn Blood and Biotech Nightmares
This part of the Death of a Unicorn review shifts from quirky family road trip to Cronenberg-lite corporate horror. The unicorn’s remains, surprise surprise, have miraculous healing powers. Naturally, the retreat’s host—Elliot’s boss, the terminally ill Odell Leopold (played by Richard E. Grant)—wants in. Greed metastasizes quickly, with Leopold’s morally bankrupt family diving headfirst into monetizing the magic.
Cue syringes filled with unicorn plasma, sketchy biotech experiments, and some of the most unsettling boardroom scenes since Severance. Will Poulter and Téa Leoni play Leopold’s children with ice-cold precision, adding layers of tension and class warfare to the plot’s chaotic swirl.
The Magic Is Messy, and That’s Okay (Mostly)
Let’s be honest in this Death of a Unicorn review: the film tries to do too much. It leaps from satire to horror to emotional drama to magical realism—all sometimes in the same five minutes. The second act drags. Some characters feel like cardboard cutouts designed to spew exposition and disappear. And while the unicorn lore is visually stunning, it’s frustratingly underdeveloped.
Still, Scharfman deserves credit. His direction is confident, stylized, and ambitious. The cinematography veers from whimsical to apocalyptic without losing cohesion. One standout shot—a unicorn silhouetted against a burning sky—is pure visual poetry. The score, eerie yet childlike, adds to the unsettling fairy tale vibe.
Death of a Unicorn Review Verdict: Odd, Ambitious, and Worth Watching
So where does this Death of a Unicorn review land? Somewhere between “cult classic waiting to happen” and “beautiful trainwreck.” It’s not a flawless film, but it’s the kind of bold, unpredictable story we need more of—especially in a cinematic landscape drowning in IP sludge.
The performances are top-tier, the premise is unforgettable, and even when it stumbles, the film commits hard to its chaos. It won’t be for everyone, but for fans of films that embrace their weirdness with gusto, Death of a Unicorn is a must-watch.
Blerd Score: 7.1/10
