Death of a Unicorn: Movie Review

Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Tea Leoni, Richard E Grant, Will Poulter
Director: Alex Scharfman

A creature feature that lacks a little bite, Death Of A Unicorn's attempts at satire and scathing social commentary fall somewhat by the wayside as the film abandons it all for a schlocky horror fest.

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play Elliot and Ridley, an estranged father-daughter duo who are thrust into a weekend away at Elliot's prospective boss, Odell Leopold (a greagrious Richard E Grant).

But on the journey to their destination, Elliot hits a unicorn, severely maiming it. As Ridley tries to persuade him against killing the creature, she bonds with it, getting access to a seeming cosmic connection.

Unsure of what to do with the creature, they bundle it into their car and head to the Leopold's estate. However, when the creature comes back to life, the ailing Leopold decides to kill it for its healing powers - and begins plotting to sell it off to the highest bidder, horrifying Ridley...

Death Of A Unicorn has some edges, but they're not enough to keep proceedings going.

Some extremely weak CGI very early on nearly full derails proceedings, leading to a feeling the film's flawed in extremis, despite a soulful performance from Ortega, a restrained one from Rudd as a father looking to reconnect and a scene-stealing one from Poulter.

But the film feels unsure which way it wants to go, meshing stalker violence with satirical silliness.

That's not to say there aren't moments of vicarious pleasure and laugh-out-loud black humour.

Poulter's garish young heir - complete with white shorts that steal the show - is a blast, and he's clearly having fun playing the most ghastly of characters throughout. Yet the fim's penchant for trying too much to tread the line between genres leaves it feeling neither here nor there.

It's a hard line to walk for comedy-horror, but with either side not strong enough to take the lead (and despite Anthony Carrigan's comedy as Griff and a rarely seen ass-kicking character played by Jessica Hynes), the cheaper edges of the whole thing leaves it feeling more meh than completely essential, sadly.