Once an outlier for emotionally charged, sometimes weird independent cinema, A24 has begun their crusade to become a larger, more broadly appealing studio. Larger budgets, big name directors, and straight genre films without the skew of bending have all begun to dominate the A24 lineup. 2025 sees not only the most prominent of this shift, but the expanding experiment has also been met with middling reception. “Death of a Unicorn” feels like the most straight forward genre film from the studio yet, and while it has quite a bit of genre mashing it fails to really do any of them all that well. To be clear, this isn’t a hit piece on A24.
Even their most mid releases are far better than $350 million Netflix slop that gets dumped into our homes against our will. But “Death of a Unicorn” is important because it sports the most high profile cast to date and feels like a push for the broadest appeal so far. While it gets a lot right, “Death of a Unicorn” is a pretty mixed bag, elevated by some great performances and gnarly kills but bogged down but a jumbled script and some ineffective narrative choices.
Written and directed by Alex Scharfman, “Death of a Unicorn” stars Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as Elliot and Ridley Kitner, an estranged father/daughter who struggle to relate to each other after the death of their wife/mother. Elliot is traveling to a remote compound to be signed over as the new proxy to a dying billionaire client and estate, an opportunity he sees as a way to advance career and provide a rich life for his daughter. Along the winding road in the depth of the mountains, they accidentally hit a young unicorn. Thinking the creature is dead (after a brutal beat down from Rudd with a tire iron) and Elliot not wanting to jeopardize his standing with the rich Leopold family, they bring the carcass to the compound, hidden in the back of their rental car. Of course, the unicorn is not dead, and once the Leopolds discover that it has magical powers and healing properties, they attempt to exploit it for personal and financial gain. This proves to be a very bad decision, as other unicorns descend on the compound looking for their child and bring their wrath on those that would do them harm. “Death of a Unicorn” also stars Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant, Will Poulter, and Anthony Carrigan (“Barry,” “Superman” 2025).
“Death of a Unicorn” is a creature feature, a family dramedy, an “eat the rich” satire, a mythical creature reimagining, and a horror comedy. That’s a whole lotta genres rolled into one, and perhaps a more veteran savvy writer/director could put all the pieces together. Unfortunately, Scharfman seems to be a little in over his head, bursting with ideas and an ability to let his cast shine but unable to reel some of them in to make “Death of a Unicorn” feel more cohesive. There’s been a lot of comparisons to “Jurassic Park,” and there is some clear inspiration drawn from this well. Scharfman frames plenty of shots that feel like a direct homage to the iconic raptors and t-rex scenes as they stalk their human prey. And when he wants a good death, he knows how to make the blood and guts feel visceral and violent and sometimes funny. But what “Death of a Unicorn” is most in tune with is “Tremors,” another creature feature, family dramedy, horror/comedy hybrid that understands itself better. The bones are far more similar and stronger in this often missed inspiration but more accurate comparison. They’d actually make a pretty solid double feature, with “Tremors” executing on all of the things “Death of a Unicorn” struggles with on a more cohesive, entertaining, and memorable level.
Here, it’s the excellent casting that elevates genre mashing and peculiar editing choices and make “Death of a Unicorn” mostly enjoyable. Everyone goes big – particularly the Leopolds – with Téa Leoni and Will Poulter being the true standouts. Poulter is probably the MVP of the entire film, displaying his excellent comedic timing and ignorant self proclaimed intelligence of a spoiled, talentless tech bro with unbelievable ease. Honestly, it’s Poulter who gallops away with “Death of a Unicorn,” and reminds us that he’s usually the best part of anything he’s in when he’s allowed to let his comedy flag fly high. Ortega is also giving a strong performance here as the “final girl” and the only one with any grasp on the situation and the right decisions if only people around her would listen. “Death of a Unicorn” relegates her performance to an exposition machine though, removing some of the tension and empathy we would typically have for this kind of character and falling into a repetitive cadence with every line.
It’s perfectly fine to have a character like Ortega who constantly clashes against the buffoonery of billionaires and doubling down on the “eat the rich” satire, using unicorns to dole out poetic justice. But for how absurd the idea of killer unicorns is, “Death of a Unicorn” doesn’t go far enough into its premise to be the truly weird gem it wants to be. Because it tries to be so many things, it never allows itself to settle into one of them as its primary theme which in turns mutes everything. It’s not as biting as a satire should be, not as many laughs as a good horror comedy should possess, and not as scary as violent creature features typically are. “Death of a Unicorn” meanders about without a sense of urgency, and even when the horns come out and the bodies start dropping, it never feels like anyone is all that worried about their impending doom. Nothing ever feels earned, so all of the payoffs – be it justice or reconciliation or redemption – all feel contrived rather than organic.
It leaves “Death of a Unicorn” as a mildly enjoyable watch but a forgettable one. It’s a film I had some good times with but will likely never think about again. Which is unfortunate because there’s a great “Tremors” film buried underneath with a cast that deserves a little bit better for their excellent efforts. I’d argue that the cast and their performances are worth the price of admission, and as a Jenna Ortega stan I’m obligated to support her in all of her endeavors. Hell, I sat through “Finestkind” because she was in it for all 5 minutes, and at least “Death of a Unicorn” gives her more to do than that.
There’s some fun to be had in “Death of a Unicorn,” but not enough for something called “Death of a Unicorn.”
Starting the “put Will Poulter in every comedy ever made from now on campaign” right now.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
“Death of a Unicorn” is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer below.
