Death of a Unicorn - Unicorns are EVIL man

A24 has produced some of the most insane movies of the last decade: Hereditary, Midsomar, and Everything Everywhere All At Once just to name a few. All the movies in their banner are well written, acted, and shot. This one is no exception.

Death of a Unicorn is about a lawyer and his daughter who are headed up to a secluded cabin for the weekend. He's there for business for a dying pharma-billionaire, to ensure his estate is taken care of before he passes. On the way, they accidentally hit a unicorn. Ridley (Ortega) touches the unicorn's horn and connects with it as it takes her on a psychedelic journey until Eliot (Rudd) bludgeons it with a tire iron. When the family discovers that its blood has regenerative properties, they start to harvest the little unicorn...then mom and dad unicorn come for their child.

Paul Rudd is the single dad who's just trying to do his best for his daughter played by Jenna Ortega. However, through 90% of the movie (while his intentions to create a life where she has to want for nothing) he falls very short. He fails to truly hear the warnings his daughter was issuing about what was coming.

Richard Grant plays the dying patriarch of the family. He gets his scientists to use the unicorn blood to cure him. Once they know what it can do and that it works, they do what all people in their position of power would do...find ways to help them become richer. Belinda (Tea Leoni) his wife and son Shepard (Will Poulter) go to work, though Shepard finds...an alternative way to use the dust from the unicorn horn.

While Rudd goes all in to help, knowing that the money he could make would help his daughter, Ortega discovers in her research of unicorns that a pattern is starting to emerge when a unicorn is trapped. Mommy and Daddy unicorn are on their way and they...are...pissed. They drop one by one in horrible and brutal attacks by the much larger parent unicorns.

Just based on the title, you know what you're getting yourself into. It's not meant to be edgy and dark like Midsomar or unnerving like Hereditary. It's just two hours of crazy and comedy with some horror elements. Granted the brutal killings were a bit much, they were also hilarious at some points.

The whole movie I was mentally screaming to Paul Rudd to get what his daughter was trying to say, but he was blinded by money and opportunity. He of course comes through in the end. The ending really made the movie too. I won't go into deep spoilers with that, but once the dangerous creatures are dealt with (Maaaaaan!) The parent unicorns show they are compassionate creatures. I mean they only wanted to find and protect their kid.

The story was mid-tier and could have done without a few scenes. The pacing was good though. Acting superb on all levels with an absolutely phenomenal cast fully embracing their eccentric characters. Visually, it looked good. As the unicorns drew near the northern lights glowed brighter. The designs of the unicorns weren't as lifelike as on Supernatural, but they were bigger and more larger than life. The slow moving shots emphasized the atmosphere of terror the family was going through as the unicorns attacked.

The movie is worth a watch. Even a re-watch or two. It was a fun couple of hours and worth watching at least once.

4/5