Death of a Unicorn

Death of a Unicorn info:

Director: Alex Scharfman

Writer: Alex Scharfman

Starring: Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter, and Téa Leoni

                Hello and welcome to another week here at https://1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com/. Hopefully, the weather has turned the corner now that it’s technically spring. I know it’s definitely been a lot wetter here recently. If fact, we had a nice round of storms and a tornado warning come through our area knocking out power, so I’m a couple of days late on this. As much as I love sunny days, a rainy day is a great day for a movie, so I will take advantage when I can. That’s exactly what I did this week when my son and I went to see “Death of a Unicorn”. I absolutely cannot wait to talk about this, so let’s get the spoiler warning out of the way quickly. If you haven’t seen this yet, you might want to head back and check out some of my other reviews here first, then come back to this when you are ready.

                Jumping right into this, I was super excited to see “Death of a Unicorn”, but at the same time, I was cautiously optimistic about how it was going to turn out. I was afraid that the trailer gave away too much or that it was going to end up being stupid. I was delightfully wrong on most of what I thought!

                “Death of a Unicorn” was both directed (first time for a feature film) and written by Scharfman. He’s mostly just been a producer up till now, other than directing a short film. So, kudos to him for an outstanding job out of the gate. Also, nothing but accolades to the casting as well. This was a phenomenal cast that worked well together and played off each other as if they have been doing it for years.

                The film starts off with Elliot (Rudd), and his daughter Ridley (Ortega) driving in a car headed to his boss’s house for a weekend getaway/business trip. We quickly learn that the wife/mother had passed away, and the two of them weren’t on the best of terms now. Suddenly, their car hits something and nearly causes them to crash. They are shocked to find out that the creature looks surprisingly like a unicorn. Not wanting to leave it on the road, they load it up in the car and head on to the house.

                After arriving at the house, we meet the rest of the amazing cast. His boss Odell (Richard E. Grant), his wife Belinda (Leoni), and their son Shepard (Poulter) are extremely rich, and they want Elliot to oversee his last wishes since he is sick and dying. They also have several in-house workers, including Griff (played by the always great Anthony Carrigan). Other than Ridley not wanting to be there, everything starts out somewhat normal.

                As soon as the unicorn in the back of their vehicle starts to wake up, the story picks up, and everything moves at a quicker pace. Someone shoots the unicorn, they bring it inside and set up a makeshift lab, and they hire two scientists, Dr. Song (Steve Park) and Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani), to study it. After Elliot’s sinus issues and eyesight got better and Ridley’s acne healed up, they were curious to know what else it could do.

                We come to find out that it heals Odell’s cancer, so they plot to harvest the entire creature to study it and make copies of the healing properties. Ridley figures out what is going on and tries to warn everyone, even her dad. But eventually, the parents of the “dead” unicorn come to get their baby, and all hell breaks loose as, one by one, the unicorns start to kill off all of the workers and family members. As the surviving members try to figure out a way to save themselves, Ridley and Elliot finally re-connect.

                Ridley was the one person they wouldn’t harm due to a connection she made with the baby after they hit it, so when her dad died, they brought him to life along with their baby. This may all sound confusing, but it all makes perfect sense while you are watching it. The ending was a little different after that, but it was fun and went along with what the previous two hours were, so it worked.

                I have always been a fan of the horror/comedy genre (like “Ghostbusters” and “Beetlejuice), so maybe that’s why this was right up my alley. Having Rudd from the “Ghostbusters” franchise and Ortega from the Beetlejuice” franchise just hit the right spot. I think that is a good description of “Death of a Unicorn” too. There were lots of parts where I chuckled out loud a little, and there were parts that were scary and gory, too. So, it had a nice mixture of both.

                Honestly, I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this movie. Other than the cast, it had everything working against it to be a flop of a flick, but somehow, it was endearing, funny, had an interesting story, and lots of drama. It hit all the right notes without taking itself too seriously and built a world that I think could be easily added to in a future release. I could even see spin-offs or side movies coming from this, as well.

                Overall, this was a great way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy day. I went into the theater with cautious expectations and left in a very good mood after witnessing a surprise movie on the big screen. Was it perfect? …no, but damn was it fun and entertaining. I very happily give this an 8 out of 10!

                That’s it for me this week. Have you seen “Death of a Unicorn” yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Were you as surprised as I was, or do you think I am as mindless as I claim to be? Either way, let me know what you think in the comments, and I will be back here next week at 1guysmindlessmoviereivews.com.