Since the release of whodunnit Knives Out in 2019, we’ve seen a flurry of glossy one-location productions with various genre twists on the format. Whether it’s in fine-dining terror The Menu, social satire slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies, or sci-fi thriller Companion, we’re quickly learning that whenever a group of individuals get together somewhere fancy for the weekend, things are going to get dark. Horror comedy Death of a Unicorn is the latest to fall into this category, marking the debut of writer and director Alex Scharfman. The plot follows lawyer Elliot (Paul Rudd) as he travels to the family estate of his billionaire boss Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), taking his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) along for the ride. On the way, they accidentally hit an animal on the road, and the fantastical fallout of the incident tests their fractured father-and-daughter relationship.
Quite often these contemporary big house ensemble pieces have an ‘eat the rich’ element to their stories, and this effort from Scharfman is no different. Taking aim at the greed and immorality of the ‘big pharma’ industry, the narrative presents the Leopold clan as heartless capitalists with their villainous characterisation played for laughs as they attempt to turn the discovery of a magical mammal’s healing powers to their financial advantage. Despite a spattering of dedicated performances, the comedy writing isn’t really up to snuff and the film has more impact as a survival horror when the unicorns are out for revenge. The over-the-top deaths are entertaining even though they do get predictably repetitive, but the first-time director does have a flair for suspense and makes decent use of the location’s limited space.
Amidst the heightened blood and guts of this mythical tale, the bond between father and daughter should serve as the emotional core of Death of a Unicorn; Ridley’s mum had passed away from cancer a few years earlier and the grief appears to have seen them drift apart. However, Scharfman’s half-hearted swipe at sentiment between the two falls flat with all the cartoonishly violent absurdity around them. So much time is spent illustrating Elliot’s selfishness and incompetence as a father that any sense of redemption in the third act feels unearned. An amusing supporting turn from Will Poulter steals the show; his portrayal of a self-centred, coke-snorting trust fund brat is nothing we haven’t seen before, but his performance is the highlight of this fun yet forgettable creature feature.
Cinema Perspective 