Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theatres this Friday from writer/director Alex Scharfman and A24 is a story with a mythical twist when there is a DEATH OF A UNICORN.
Elliot (Paul Rudd) is attempting to work his way up the ladder of a company owned by the Leopold’s. Driving up to their property in the mountains, he brings daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) along to spend time since his wife’s death and to show they are a close family. Driving up the winding road, Elliot takes his eyes off the road for one second before hitting something in the road.
Ridley walks up to the creature on the road and touches it causing something weird to happen. Elliot decides that it is up to him to put the creature out of its misery. Arriving at the Leopold house, he is met by Belinda Leopold (Tea Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter) who bring them into the extravagant house that takes Ridley by surprise. Elliot meets with Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant) who is very ill.
While Ridley takes a look around, Elliot is in the process of signing business papers with the Leopold’s who are happy he is working with them. That is until family assistant Shaw (Jessica Hynes) notices something moving in the back of Elliot’s car! Even butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan) sees the vehicle rocking like crazy. Everyone runs out of the house in time to see the creature Elliot hit earlier!
Odell immediately calls in Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani) and Dr. Song (Steve Park), two scientists who try to understand what the creature is. While all the madness is happening, Ridley is doing her research to discover what the creature is and present her findings to the Leopold’s – it is a unicorn! They aren’t as interested in her story as they are in what they discover about the creature. Now, Elliot and Ridley are faced with being the only two who realize that the Leopold’s are determined on destruction.
Actually, there are more creatures in the woods and they are, well, very angry and looking to hold someone responsible.
Rudd as Elliot is a twitchy widower who wants to be financially secure to take care of his daughter. He believes the Leopold’s are they key to making that happen and is a bit of a shoe licker about it. When the craziness begins, he is still twitchy but slowly realizes his daughter is on to something! This role is perfect for Rudd as he takes on his usual humor and ability to be that “dad” who thinks wrong to make things right. Ortega as Ridley is a daughter who is irritated with her father for many reasons while trying to deal with the death of her mother. Once they arrive at the Leopold’s, Ridley wants to leave sensing that something isn’t right but there is a reason. Ortega gets a chance to wiggle around the crazies of the house and is the princess of the story.
Grant as Odell is a sickly man who hires Elliot to help with the family business. Once that sickness is put in check, the business side of Odell comes out and so does greed and destruction. Grant is fantastic in this role and I loved watching him do what he does best, take a role and make it his own. Leoni as Belinda does a superb job of being irritating in a hilarious way. Watching her bounce off Grant’s role of Odell is impressive and it is good to see her on the screen again.
Carrigan as Griff is one of the outstanding characters in the film and from now on, I will be yelling “Griiiiiiiffffff” anytime I want something. Carrigan has to be seen to be hilariously believed. Hynes as Shaw has only one goal, be as tough as she can be. As the Leopold’s assistant, Hynes character is protective of the family and is going to take on whatever is in the woods.
Song as Park is the scientist trying to discover what it is about the creature that can be a cure to so many things. Mani as Dr. Bhatia is the other scientist who knows that you don’t mess with the Leopold’s. Both of the scientists are just as twitchy as Elliot!
The outstanding character here is Poulter as Shepard who is a narcissistic, spoiled and entitled man-child. That being said, oh my goodness did he have me laughing myself silly. His antics and line deliveries were sheer perfection. I can’t even explain adequately Poulter’s performance because it truly does need to be experienced but be prepared to jaw drop and giggle like crazy.
Other cast include Denise Delgado as Ridley’s Mom and Kathryn Erbe as the Tapestry Narrator.
A24 is an independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production based in New York City. Films such as A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III, the amazing EX MACHINA, ROOM and THE WITCH. Many of their films can be found on DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime. For more information, please visit www.a24films.com.
DEATH OF A UNICORN is a thriller, comedy and horror film all rolled into one. Normally I’d be a little leery of that combination but writer/director Scharfman must have found some unicorn dust of his own. Putting this cast together was another stroke of genius because they played off one another and made it look so darn easy. I had so many reactions to the film and every single one of them was fun. The CGI gives us total unicorn and, as a childhood unicorn lover, I was thrilled with what they came up with.
Having beloved mythical creatures as the “bad guys” had me at go from the beginning and the way they are brought to the story had me cheering. Does it seem I’m being vague? Absolutely so! There is no way I want to spoil this film for anyone who is headed to the theatre this weekend. It is a weird, strange, twisted story and the biggest thing it has going for it is originality and that’s saying a lot with the films of late.
Get that tub of popcorn and take a mythical, magical ride of terror.
In the end – they’re going to make a killing!
