![‘Death Of A Unicorn’ – A24 Brings In Paul Rudd And Jenna Ortega For A Horror Comedy [Review]](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/933a72b0-8c02-49ce-8a7f-22f752505b82-1280x640.jpg)
Early belief in unicorns has long stemmed from writings like those of the ancient ‘natural history’ chroniclers Ctesias in the 4th Century BCE or Pliny the Elder in 1st century AD. Belief in the magical beasts, described variably but always with a single horn in the middle of their foreheads, fueled medieval bestiaries and the writings of Marco Polo. The legends have remained influential, influencing Scottish history (their national animal since the 1500s) as much as Lisa Frank folders and Shazam: Fury of the Gods. In Death of a Unicorn, the newest horror-comedy from a24, reports of the unicorn’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Elliot Kitner (Paul Rudd) is a lawyer and widowed father, drags his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) to the isolated home of his wealthy, dying boss Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant). The reason for the visit is for the Leopolds to get to know Elliot before allowing him to settle Odell and the family’s affairs. The critical Ridley doesn’t want to attend, but if that resistance wasn’t complicating enough, the pair hit and gravely injured an animal thanks to Elliot’s distracted driving. They realize the animal shouldn’t exist… it’s a unicorn, and while Ridley has a supernatural connection to it, Elliot packs it into his car to proceed to his must-land business weekend at the Leopold’s. As it often turns out in horror films, it was all a terrible plan.
A Talented Cast and Surprisingly Sincere Unicorn Lore Cement A Solid Horror-Comedy
Death of a Unicorn is a number of things. It’s a tale about the effects of familial loss, it’s a monster movie, a send-up of the wealthy, and at times a comedy of manners. Written and directed by Alex Scharfman, the script manages to blend those varied threads into an entertaining brew of well-executed horror moments and jokes that land. Significant comedy is made from the Leopolds’ insincerities, like donating to NGOs for purposes they can’t name and pretending to care about social issues despite having a phone book full of the worst people in this world. They’re delivered with impeccable comedic timing and delicious situational irony, creating an engaging cinematic experience.
The performances are strong across the board. Paul Rudd gives a strong, relatively straight-laced performance as Elliot, torn between his professional desires to stay in the Leopold’s good graces and his daughter’s desires desire to instead be exemplary people. Jenna Ortega grounds the ensemble with heart, and the characters’ good-natured earnestness provides the means for a strong connection to the surreal creatures. Will Poulter is absolutely hilarious as Shepard Leopold, Odell’s narcissistic son, providing numerous moments of comedic interludes as a character who is layered, and all the layers are stupidly privileged. Téa Leoni and Anthony Carrigan also land their fair shares of quippy lines, and the cast of the entire Leopold family excels in embodying the performative virtue of the wealthiest.
The script pulls from real legend and adeptly incorporates it explicitly into the actual narrative to explain why these creatures, often imagined as cutesy magic horses, could become the murderous beasts of horror stuff. It works, and the creatures themselves are gorgeously rendered onscreen. There’s real suspense in their rampage, drawing from their ability (as supernatural entities) to behave in unexpected ways and overcome a set of morally suspect characters attempting to profit from the existence (and death, they hope) of rarer than rare monsters with unbelievable effects. These elements are well used for memorable and well-paced and executed kills, as well as suspense from their unexpected behavior. Doom comes for the Leopolds, and it’s satisfying.
‘Death of a Unicorn’ Is A Top-Shelf Comedic Monster-Movie
Horror comedies are difficult to land, given that both hybridized genres require flawless timing, a strong command of genre conventions, and the alteration of moods that aren’t often organically paired in life. We’re in a great year for horror comedies, however, with Companion, Heart Eyes, The Monkey, and Borderline all finding success with different tones and genre hybridizations. Death of a Unicorn is another successful horror comedy, here utilizing monster movie conventions with an unexpected creature and making its reign of terror work thanks to a smart script and talented cast. At times, the film feels a little long at 104 minutes (felt most in particular scenes in the third act), but it still remains a blast of a film, with laugh-out-loud moments, great kills, and an emotional core that works. It’s absolutely worth trips to the theater (but be very watchful of unicorns on your drive home).
Death of a Unicorn hits theaters March 28, 2025.
For more Reviews, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
