Movie: Death of a Unicorn (2025)
Production Companies: Secret Engine, Square Peg, Ley Line Entertainment, Monoceros Media, The Royal Budapest Film Co
Distributed by: A24
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Tyler Campellone, Drew Houpt, Lars Knudsen, Alex Scharfman, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page
Directed by: Alex Scharfman
Written by: Alex Scharfman
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant
Review by: Cam Wiggs

2025 has been nothing if not a mixed bag for the movie industry so far. Financially, it has been difficult. The domestic box office is down nearly 9% year-to-date versus 2024 and a whopping 25.5% when compared to the pre-COVID year of 2019. This includes a few stinkers from massive studios in Captain America: Brave New World, Mickey 17, and, more recently, Snow White (2025). Conversely, the 2025 film slate so far features something noticeably absent and gravely needed in recent years: original films. From Steven Soderberg’s duo of original theatrical releases, Black Bag and Presence, to a pair of charming, Jack Quaid-led films in Novocaine and Companion, 2025 continues to roll out new, original movies week after week. And none are more original than the subject of this review, Death of a Unicorn.

The film stars Paul Rudd as Elliott and Jenna Ortega as Ridley, a father-daughter duo headed deep into the sticks for a weekend retreat hosted by Elliott’s boss, the CEO of a large pharmaceutical corporation, and his family. On the way, the two make an unexpected discovery when they crash their rental car into a unicorn crossing the road. Elliott is afraid to arrive even later than they already are and desperate to keep a low-profile in hopes of earning good favor or a promotion while Ridley simply feels they can’t abandon the poor creature. So, they quickly shove their equine epiphany into the trunk and continue to their destination, unwittingly assuring a preposterous and perilous weekend for themselves and those at the retreat.

Based on that setup (and by the use of the term “horror comedy” in the review headline), you should have gathered by now that the tone of this movie is firmly on the irreverent side. More precisely put, Death of a Unicorn is a thinly-veiled big pharma satire that doubles as an absurdist creature feature. Based on that description, you might make the argument that the movie could not be as “original” as I previously stated since creature features have existed since the dawn of filmmaking. And given the genre’s storied history and its unique ability to analyze and satirize the human propensity to abandon others’ well-being in the pursuit of wealth, fame, etc., you might even be right. After all, two of the most famous movies ever, Jurassic Park and Alien, fall squarely within the assortment of films I am describing, the latter of which the film’s director, Alex Scharfman, cites as his second-favorite creature feature of all time (he also borrows the name of the female lead, Ridley, among other things).

That said, my claim of originality comes more from its targeted criticism of big pharma and its ambitious tonal approach as it attempts to balance dark comedy, horror, and family drama elements simultaneously (though not always successfully). In this way, I find Death of a Unicorn to be unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Originality, however, does not always equal quality and, on that front (and as a sort of microcosm for the year of 2025 in film so far), Death of the Unicorn is a mixed bag. Perhaps the best example of the film’s inconsistent quality is the cast. On one hand, you’ve got Jenna Ortega, who once again turns in an impressive and detail-oriented performance. In Ortega, both in this film and beyond, we are witnessing a young artist displaying abilities that surpass what you expect of someone her age and she’s continuing to improve at a rapid clip. If I had more faith in her choice in projects (which has been suspect so far, in my opinion), I would be willing to call her a surefire future Academy Award winner. I believe she is that good. She is also perfectly cast in her role in this film and completely committed throughout.

Then we have Paul Rudd, which is different story altogether. Rudd, through no fault of his own, is woefully miscast in this film. Elliott is a Dad trying to reconnect with his daughter who dislikes him due to his obsession with moving up at his job as well as his overall cringyness. Elliott’s career infatuation is an overly-compensatory response to the death of his wife and his desperation to provide for his daughter. It’s a decently-written albeit trite character, but not one that Paul Rudd, with his effervescent, Golden Retriever energy, easily inhabits. As a result, he spends the majority of the film visibly lost and fumbling through line reads and punchlines.

The rest of the cast is an eclectic troop of actors who mostly fulfill their purpose. There are clear standouts like Will Poulter as the hilarious, affluenza-stricken Shepard and Anthony Carrigan as the ever-incredulous family butler Griff but, overall, the cast is solid more so than noteworthy.

From a production and filmmaking standpoint, Death of a Unicorn also has an almost equal share of highs and lows. Counterintuitively, there are even instances of the same creative choice doubling as a high point and a low point in the film despite the filmmakers remaining consistent in approach throughout. The most obvious example of this phenomenon is the CGI unicorns. The unrepentant cheesiness in the visual design of the unicorns could best be compared to the gimmicky horror comedy, creature features of the 1980s – things like Gremlins or Child’s Play. At times during the movie, this choice pays off, delivering gut-bustingly hilarious encounters involving preposterous looking mythical creatures and our characters’ equally hilarious and terrified reactions to them.

This same creative choice, however, also hinders the movie in the latter half when the plot becomes more creature-heavy and, for that matter, just generally heavy in tone. By the end, you are almost annoyed with how much you’ve been asked to look, marvel, wince, and laugh at these creatures throughout the one hour and forty-four minute runtime of the film.

All told, I found more to like than dislike about Death of a Unicorn. The first half of the movie is a genuinely good time with brief moments of riotous hilarity. The film unmistakably struggles in the back half as the story attempts to reconcile the outrageous, silly, gross, and heavily-satirical nature of movie with its heavier, more heartfelt elements, but the intention and confidence is consistent throughout.

If you have read or listened to my reviews before, you know I will usually if not always give a film additional credit if it has any of these qualities: originality, boldness, and consistency. In the case of Death of a Unicorn, it delights me to say the film possesses a little bit of all three. It’s a flawed movie, but one I am glad to have seen and I hope to see many more like it in the future. So, if you are like me and dream of a time when original films and strong box office performance can coexist, consider dropping by your local theater to check out Death of a Unicorn this weekend.

My Score: 6.3/10

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