It’s rare that I don’t see a trailer for a movie before I see it but somehow, I had seen none for Death of a Unicorn. I’m a big fan of A24 movies so I decided to grab Mrs. The X and take in a Sunday movie. And after watching this dark comedy horror movie I enjoyed it very much.
One thing going in this is a bit of a small cast movie and I like that. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play Elliot and Ridley Kintner are traveling to the estate of Elliot’s boss Odell Leopold played by Richard Grant and his wife and son Belinda and Shepard Leopold played by Téa Leoni and Will Poulter. Also, Griff the butler is played by Anthony Carrigan whom I loved his performance.
The premise of the movie is as Elliot and Ridley are making their way to his employer’s estate they hit a unicorn with their car. I can’t believe I wrote that out. But after loading up the body to dispose of it later its existence is discovered by the Leopolds who have a pharmaceutical business. After it’s found that parts of the unicorn have positive medical effects, the Leopolds along with legal counsel Elliot start looking for how they can cash in on this. Only Ridley is trying to warn them through research and a connection she had with the creature that all this is a mistake and that other unicorns exist and are coming for the body of the slain one.
So yeah, the premise could be ridiculous if you read it with a mind of this being a serious movie. My friends this is a Wendy’s, I mean, dark comedy, treat it as such. And yes, this movie is very funny. I have to really put the shine on this cast because they all did very well with the humor. Will Poulter as Shepard Leopold was particularly entertaining and Paul Rudd had a bit more depth to his character I enjoyed seeing. Téa Leoni is still one of my favorite actors and this movie reminded me of why.
Overall, I loved the story, it made me laugh and I still enjoy a good jump scare. Some of the CGI work admittedly looked better in the dark vs. daylight but we’re talking about mythical creatures. The R rating for the movie is mostly due to language and some gory scenes so you may want to restrict the kids from seeing it or view it yourself and decide that cause I could watch this one again if we’re being honest. Good laugh, scary scenes and some real sold acting I have to put Death of a Unicorn at a solid 7 out of 10.
Jason The X
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