What if unicorns were badass? What if, rather than the twee, sparkly fairy creatures that distribute magic and glittery microplastic at kids’ themed birthday parties, unicorns were fearsome beasts with deranged amber eyes, huge tombstone teeth that could sever a man’s arm, and horns covered in the entrails of their victims like flesh pennants? It’s an appetising central premise. And this Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega-starring horror comedy, produced by the achingly hip boutique studio A24, certainly delivers on the grisly, torso-skewering gore. Maybe the jokes could have been sharper, but at least the unicorns’ horns make their point.
Killer unicorns are not an entirely novel concept. The ultraviolent 2022 cult feature animation Unicorn Wars – described by its director as “Bambi meets Apocalypse Now meets the Bible” – pitted unicorns against teddy bears in a savage battle for supremacy. But it’s a sufficiently distinctive selling point for this pulpy feature debut from producer turned director Alex Scharfman. What’s less original is the messaging that underpins the blood-sodden mess: that the real monsters are not the unicorns, but the evil representatives of big pharma – in this case, company boss Odell, played by Richard E Grant, his trophy wife, Belinda, played by Téa Leoni, and their idiot son, Shepard, a role that allows Will Poulter to hog the lion’s share of the best jokes – plus most of the recreational drugs.
