‘Death Of A Unicorn’ review: Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega serve up fantasy slasher slop

A father-and-daughter run over – and seemingly kill – a unicorn, only to discover the myths are true and it possesses great healing powers. As premises go, Alex Scharfman’s film Death Of A Unicorn has oodles of promise. But that’s as far as it goes for this A24 comedy-horror, one that tries to skewer the entitlement of rich people on its razor-sharp horn. Much like the recent Opus, which also blended satire and kills, the good idea never evolves into more than a bloodbath.

Death Of A Unicorn starts out with attorney Elliot (Paul Rudd) driving young daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) to meet with clients – the wealthy Leopold clan. On an isolated country road, he hits a baby unicorn and decides to help out the injured creature by beating it over the head with a tyre iron to put it out of its misery. Then – for reasons best known to himself – he puts the beast in the back of his car and drives onto his appointment. As it turns out though, this is one tough unicorn.

At the Leopolds’ secluded rural compound, Elliot and co. soon discover the mythical beast has survived and its blood seems to cure all ailments – Ridley’s acne, Elliot’s allergies and, most significantly, the cancer that is currently eating away the Leopolds’ odious patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant), a big cheese in Big Pharma. The revived Odell, wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and their son Shepard (Will Poulter) soon have dollar signs in their eyes – as well as designs on immortality.

Only Ridley, who bonded with the beast after touching its horn, sounds a note of caution. Some quick internet research sees her look into the famed unicorn tapestries hanging at the Cloisters museum in New York, which hints that these beasts aren’t quite as benevolent as you might think. And it turns out, she’s spot on. Anyone who recalls the scene in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World where two T-Rexes go looking for their baby will have an idea of what’s coming next.

Indeed, there’s something very Spielbergian about the film (E.T. also springs to mind when the Leopolds’ pharma team come in, in their white coveralls, to run tests). Death Of A Unicorn also has a sprinkling of influence from Joe Dante and his mischievous film Gremlins. Sadly, producer-turned-writer/director Scharfman never gets the balance quite right. The relationship between try-hard father Elliot and his daughter, which should be the emotional heartbeat of the movie, never feels convincing.

The script does conjure some killer lines (Leoni saying “not to be a size queen, but that horn was rather girthsome” for example) and Poulter is fab as the obnoxious rich kid who gets to go full Keith Richards by snorting some unicorn powder. The visual effects are also decent, especially if you get your kicks from watching fairytale creatures go ape, but that’s about it for this messy fantasy. Let’s just say, the end result won’t make you horny.