FILM REVIEW
DEATH OF A UNICORN
Rated R
107 Minutes
Released March 28th
Death of a Unicorn is certainly an imaginative movie, and it has elements to please everyone: a dad and daughter trying to find common ground, fantastical creatures, a villainous, selfish pharmaceutical scion, his privileged wife and spoiled brat adult son, and a medieval style battle of good vs. evil. The film itself is well done, though a little rough around the edges. The horror aspect is solid, with scares when you least expect them from sources not anticipated and shock reveals, though sometimes the bridges between emotions could use better timing.
There is ample blood and gore, which seem to be quite popular now. The narrative keeps you on the edge of your seat, though at times, the flow is a bit jerky. The beauty of the surrounding landscape and the serenity of the mountains are a perk. The film loses me a bit in the first few minutes when a unicorn is hit by a car driven by our lead actor, Paul Rudd, as “Elliot,” and he and his daughter “Ridley,” played by Jenna Ortega, don’t seem to have any sense that they have just caused pain and perhaps death to a living creature. It took me a few beats to try to forgive that scene and get myself back into the story.
Director Alex Scharfman has produced films but has never directed before. He formed the idea for this movie years ago; originally, he was only going to produce and write it, but then he realized “I’m supposed to tell this story.” His greatest challenge was how to portray the unicorns. He didn’t want to use animatronics, so he used puppets, enhanced later with some CGI. As the story plays out, the creatures take on a life of their own.
Jenna Ortega is charismatic and completely believable as a loner/ frustrated teen, “Ridley.” Paul Rudd’s role as her dad, “Elliot,” offers him the arc to fashion a complex character. More than just the well-meaning dad, Eliot has developed a huge library of flaws from years of trying to please his demanding bosses. Rudd plays this wonderfully. Richard E. Grant creates a gloriously selfish tyrant in his pharma scion, “Odell.” Tea Leoni is smug and comfortable in her superiority as his wife. I wish Scharfman had given her more of a chance at shading her character – she’s such a brilliant actress. Will Poulter, as their son, gives this 30-year-old spoiled brat the personality of an overgrown, entitled tween. Anthony Corrigan, as “Griff,” the butler, steals his scenes as usual. This highly unique and talented actor did the same in the breakout TV drama Barry. Corrigan can make his characters skirt the edges of madness without losing their humanity.
This movie is a thriller/comedy/cultural satire/horror film, and your head may be spinning on a unicorn horn by the time it’s over. There are many themes circling this story, and having just one or two as the main drivers would have been more impactful. The style seems to be to put them all in a blender and see if the resulting juice of ideas makes a fluid narrative. A scene at the end leads you suddenly from a horrific night in the mansion to a dramatic interlude on the sun-filled outside terrace the next morning. The jarring segue left me thinking a transition must have been dropped, as even Ortega’s hair seems different. With a little more shaping, the film could have had more emotional power.
Unicorns in the Middle Ages symbolized a spirit that humans were not virtuous enough to attain. They were often represented in folklore as wild, violent, and untamable. Scharfman links unicorns to modern pharmaceuticals in this way in his version of the unicorn myth, but this is not clearly drawn in the story.
Does interfering with nature bring chaos to humanity? Should we disdain animals or be in awe of them? If unicorns did exist, how would we interact with them today? What kind of relationship do we have with our planet and its inhabitants? These are the questions.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
