Once upon a time, a lawyer and his daughter hit a baby unicorn in a Canadian preserve. Taking a cue from RFK Jr., they toss it in the trunk and head to his billionaire boss’ retreat. Where there’s magical purple blood, there’s money to be made, and soon it’s Shark Tank meets Grimms Fairy Tales.
At the world premiere of Death of a Unicorn, Claudette Godfrey, head of SXSW Film & TV, warned the palpably excited audience: “I seriously don’t think you’re ready for this.” The unicorn’s demise triggers a descent into chaos – it’s a frenetic adventure chock-full of gory one-upping and quirky one-percenters, blending corporate satire with creature horror. Writer/director Alex Scharfman’s debut film leans into the grotesque and the goofy, often in one breath. Unicorn parents, after all, are notoriously fierce when it comes to their children. And it’s not every day you can use disembowelment and unicorn horn in the same sentence.
Turns out, unicorns are much more nuanced than Lisa Frank led us to believe. The mythical beast is nature’s wombo-combo gift of cocaine, Accutane, and Botox all rolled into one – and bossman Richard E. Grant’s diabolical character needs that fountain of youth energy. (There’s a joke about Paul Rudd’s baby face in here somewhere.) The playboy son, played by Will Poulter, carries much of the comedy relief with help from classic Rudd quips and the scene-stealing facial expressions from fan-favorite Anthony Carrigan. As he explained during the Q&A, “Sometimes you don’t need to say shit.”
The full cast of superstars, led by Wednesday Addams herself, Jenna Ortega, gave props to the craftspeople who made this nutty dream come to life. The unicorn puppets are delightfully surreal. As Grant put it, “There’s something about seeing real stuff – the puppetry, not CGI – it’s incredible.” Téa Leoni offered her own gratitude for the props department: “They even warmed up the guts for me!” It’s nice to see a film revel in handcrafted oddities.
Much of Act 2 gives E.T. vibes, complete with every millennial’s recurring nightmare of hazmat-suited government researchers in billowing white duct-tunnels. And the film’s overt nods to 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park keep audience members of our generation on our toes, because you just never know when snarling silhouettes will usher in a new wave of terror or mark the end of a billionaire’s dream. On that note, the sound editors deserve a bonus. From neighing in a cave to a deep guttural roar à la Tyrannosaurus rex in the cafeteria, the bonkers film sounded like a winner.
I’m not sure if this script will land in the Library of Congress, but it’s nearly two hours of frenzied unicorn carnage and it’s a corny-horny blast. With the real world monsters knocking at our doors, we could all use some billionaire bludgeoning and a psychedelic fantasy to remind us of how important it is to take a vacation.
A24 will release Death of a Unicorn in theatres on March 28. Read Richard Whittaker’s interview with writer/director Alex Scharfman here.
Death of a Unicorn
Headliner, World Premiere
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This article appears in March 7 • 2025.