Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd portray a father-daughter pair whose journey takes a disastrous turn in Death of a Unicorn. During their drive they unexpectedly struck a real unicorn. Overwhelmed by fear of the aftermath they place the unicorn inside their vehicle and drive towards their boss’s lodge.
The situation becomes ominous when the boss learns about the unicorn’s healing abilities and starts planning their exploitation. But here’s the twist: Multiple unicorns exist and they are enraged that one of them has been injured.
The film promised audiences horror-comedy but succeeded only in the comedy. The film opened with a compelling plot that slowed down during the middle before picking up again after an awkwardly re-introduced grieving subplot.
The relationship between Rudd and Ortega appeared forced at times and unnatural. Paul Rudd performed well with one-liners but struggled when delivering serious dialogue while Jenna Ortega’s breathy delivery at times was a put off and overdone. Will Poulter provided an exceptional comedic performance that turned out to be the film’s redeeming factor.
Look, I laughed. I did. The script required more extreme absurdist and fantastical elements. And that ending? Total trainwreck. Building a story becomes pointless when you choose to give your audience a ridiculous final act.
I initially planned to give the movie a score of 3/5 but the chaotic ending reduced my rating to 2.5/5. Death of a Unicorn had the potential to deliver an exceptional experience but it ended up leaving me unfulfilled with a story that could have been great.
