Cillian Howley is fed up with the cycle of hollow Hollywood commentary on the inhumane acts of the upper class. Death of a Unicron is, unfortunately, no different.
Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star as a father and daughter who almost kill a unicorn in Death of a Unicorn. This bland, half-baked horror dramedy comes from first time feature writer-director Alex Scharfman. The film follows the pair heading for a weekend at a philanthropic billionaire’s secluded estate. Things quickly go awry – the pair hit a unicorn with their car. Chaos ensues as the pair try to hide what they have done from their host family. Richard E. Grant plays the dying patriarch, husband to Tea Leoni and father to Will Poulter. Against the backdrop of a horror movie, the film treads a familiar narrative of a strained parent-child relationship. The film manages to be underdone, over the top and painfully on the nose all at once.
We meet father and daughter, Elliott (Rudd) and Ridley (Ortega), en route to billionaire Odell Leopold’s (Grant) mansion. Thanks to some obvious expositional dialogue, countless cliches are rattled off. Elliott is a single father, following his wife’s untimely and tragic death. Ridley is a moody, sullen and misunderstood teenager who is wise beyond her years. She is rebellious as evidenced by her pink hair and dark clothing. Ridley clashes with her father over his affiliation with the Leopold family and protests his assertion they are good people because of their charity work. Aptly, she quips that “philanthropy is reputation laundering for the wealthy”. Unexpectedly, a distracted Elliot hits something causing the car to fly off the road. The pair lump the creature in the boot and continue on their way.
Upon arrival, it is difficult for Elliot and Ridley to keep their secret hidden. Once the family learn of the not-so-dead magical unicorn, they quickly mobilise to capitalise off of it. They insist their intentions are noble and they have simply the interests of society at heart despite their plainly obvious financial motivations. This is a familiar tale, particularly in light of the recent eleven-minute all-women Blue Origin mission which disguised its blatant advertisement for space tourism as an exercise in female empowerment.
At a time when viewers are being starved of original stories, it is disappointing to declare this film a total mishap despite the immense talent on screen.
Death serves as the umpteenth instalment of the satirised congregation of rich people universe that has emerged in recent years. The isolated setting immediately calls The Menu (2022) and Glass Onion (2022) to mind. The horror element which sees wealthy characters bloodily picked off one by one is reminiscent of Ready or Not (2019). Interestingly, Death’s release comes alongside the most recent series of The White Lotus. Both highlight the diminishing returns of this relatively new subgenre. This reduced quality combined with the irony of its creators makes a strong case that Hollywood should put this saga to bed. An industry based on connections, unrealistic beauty standards and profit does not need to remind us that rich people are vapid assholes.
Across the board, the ensemble cast underwhelms. Ortega gives perhaps the best performance of the film as Ridely. However, her work here is hard to distinguish from previous roles in Scream (2022), Wednesday and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024). Rudd takes on the similarly familiar role of a father trying his best. Elliot had potential as a morally ambiguous character, however the script undercuts this by explaining away his dubious behaviour as simply looking out for his daughter. Grant is his usual stubborn, upper crust self while Leoni is underused as the fickle matriarch.
As a spoiled, frat boy heir to a fortune, Poulter proves the opposite of a scene stealer. His hammy American accent sucks the life from each scene he disgraces the screen in. The performance is unnatural and laboured, achieving the impressive task of making acting look impossibly difficult. For not one moment is he believably American. Tacky CGI also proves unconvincing and unpleasant to watch for almost two hours.
Despite an intriguing premise, Death of a Unicorn offers nothing new to audiences. This predictable and forgettable film is bound to die a death in cinemas. At a time when viewers are being starved of original stories, it is disappointing to declare this film a total mishap despite the immense talent on screen. Produced by independent film studio, A24, Death was one of few projects to film amidst the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes which may explain why a subpar script attracted such big names. Nevertheless, I would rather see more movies like Death of a Unicorn than A Minecraft Movie (2025) on the big screen.