Horse Girls and Big Pharma Clash in Latest A24 Offering
DIRECTED BY ALEX SCHARFMAN/2025
Unicorns are real, and they are out for vengeance. In Alex Scharfman’s directorial debut, these fantastical creatures are less mystical and significantly more bloodthirsty. In a box office abundant with sequels and remakes, the originality of Death of a Unicorn promises a refreshing break for audiences. A fresh IP paired with a stellar ensemble cast – not to mention that A24 logo – should ensure a guaranteed hit. Instead, this horror comedy collapses under the weight of its own ambition.
Ridley (Jenna Ortega), an existential art student, is reluctantly roped into traveling through the wilderness with her father, Elliot (Paul Rudd). The father-daughter duo are headed to meet Elliot’s boss and patriarch of a multi-billion pharmaceutical corporation, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant). On his death bed, Odell has hired Elliot to arrange his final affairs to ensure a stable future for his surviving family members, his wife Belinda (Tea Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter). The scenic drive is interrupted when Elliot strikes an actual living unicorn with his car. When the duo brings the corpse to the Leopold household, they make a historic discovery: the unicorn has magical blood. Its healing properties are what causes Ridley’s acne to vanish, eliminates Elliot’s allergies, and even cures Odell’s terminal cancer. In the throes of this new discovery, the inhabitants are completely unaware of the dangerous creatures stalking them in the forest.
Each actor is operating safely in their own familiar wheelhouse. Jenna Ortega shoulders the emotional weight of the film with the ease of an experienced lead. The script does not allow much room for Ortega to flex her acting abilities, but she gives a solid delivery as the rational voice of the group in the midst of chaos. Paul Rudd appears to be having a blast playing a slightly different version of the last character we just saw him as. He has certainly managed to refine the bumbling father act over the past few years of his career, and it is on full display here.
The true delight here is Will Poulter as a brash, bone-headed adult nepo-baby. His exaggerated performance as an entitled deadbeat son could have easily been annoying, but Poulter’s delivery and uninhibited approach is a joy to watch. The major disappointment here is how drastically underutilized Anthony Carrigan is. He makes the most of the thin role as the family’s butler, playing him with a constant air of subtle annoyance paired with down-to-earth reactions.
There is a blending of genre and themes here that appears ambitious, but the finished product suggests that perhaps Scharfman bit off more than he could chew. Underneath the absurd violence and mythological creatures is a deeper discussion about the wealthy elite and their penchant for corporate greed. There are a few scattered gems here, particularly when Ridley and the audience realize that a steak Odell consumes is actually unicorn meat. When Elliot attempts to defend the need for this miracle cure, Ridley reminds him that her mother would have never even been allowed near it. Unfortunately, the moment Scharfman has a grasp on a specific theme it vanishes like smoke. This soft attempt at class commentary feels lackluster in an era of increasingly popular eat-the-rich-style scripts.
For as absurd as Death of a Unicorn markets itself to be, every plot point is upsettingly predictable. The star-filled cast and refreshingly original premise can only save the film from itself until a certain point. What began as a fascinating concept becomes a somewhat decent way to spend two hours. That is not to say the film does not have some slight charm. It is easily most enjoyable when it focuses on being a cheesy monster flick with gory kills and goofy CGI creatures. Sadly, Death of a Unicorn crumbles under the weight of all of its possibilities to instead become a mediocre film.