Rent Death of a Unicorn on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Alex Scharfman
Directed by: Alex Scharfman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Anthony Carrigan, Richard E. Grant
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature's miraculous curative properties.
Verdict
With an enticing concept, a dead unicorn, it lures you in. Unfortunately, this isn't comedic or emotionally deep enough to be memorable. An accident with a unicorn leads to a wealthy tycoon looking to exploit the discovery. This doesn't do enough, instead trying to balance comedy, action, and greed. I'd love for this to embrace the camp or focus on deadpan humor in such a ridiculous situation. Instead it feels like a by the numbers thriller seeking a broad audience despite the unique premise.
Skip it.
Review
A unicorn? It's a ridiculous premise. This wastes little time establishing that Elliot and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) have an uneasy relationship as they drive to his boss's house. He's bringing her just to impress his boss who is big on family. When Elliot (Paul Rudd) hits a unicorn, the weekend is dramatically altered.
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| Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega play Elliot, Ridley |
They soon discover the healing powers of unicorn blood before his boss Odell's (Richard E. Grant) family discovers the unicorn Elliot hid in the car isn't actually dead. Of course Odell is dying and the healing properties of the unicorn could resolve his illness. The family wants to cash in on this discovery while Ridley researches fables about the unicorn. She cautions them to not harm the unicorn.
This is a dark absurdist comedy, but it doesn't push far enough. Odell's son Shepard (Will Poulter) is a spoiled rich kid that could be so much funnier and more ridiculous. The character seems like a great idea, but he's never as comedic as he should be. As everyone argues over what to do, Odell eats a unicorn steak, a transfusion of the unicorn's blood having healed him. He needs more. This moment should be so much bigger.
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| Richard E. Grant, Paul Rudd, Téa Leoni play Odell, Elliot, Belinda |
Eventually additional unicorns attack the home. These unicorns are brutal and deadly. While this movie has several silly situations, it has just as many serious ones too where people are impaled by a unicorn's horn. It doesn't balance. In one scene Shepard is snorting unicorn horn dust. In the next staff are shooting at unicorns. This needs the actors, or just a couple of them, to chew more scenery. Towards the end this relies on gruesome deaths to entertain. There's a lot of them, and it's all just chaos.
It's a neat idea that never quite develops. This could be such a silly situation where the characters take it with the utmost sincerity, or it could be a silly premise that becomes serious with the characters becoming caricatures. This could dive deeper as a character study or embrace the absurdity and go for more comedy. It's never funny enough or emotionally gripping enough to be memorable past the idea of a dead unicorn.
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