Death of a Unicorn might have been better if it were made for much less – let’s say, somewhere between a million dollars and the spare change found at the back of the sofa. The extra fanfare feels unnecessary: the cast led by Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E Grant; the aspirational modern interiors masked by bare minimum “eat the rich” sentiment; the fact it’s distributed by A24 and produced by a company co-founded by Midsommar’s Ari Aster; the herd of CGI-rendered unicorns engaged in an impalement rampage.
In terms of substance, this is really about as basic as creature features get. It might have benefited from embracing some of the (intentional or unintentional) camp of real-deal, low-budget horror – the kind birthed on scuzzy VHS tapes, with their robotic performances, vats of corn syrup, and puppets that look like they’ve been through the wash a few times. There’s a mixture of practical and digital effects here, yet debuting writer-director Alex Scharfman leans too enthusiastically into Jurassic Park homage. It’s hardly sincere enough to be Spielberg, so instead just ends up a little dry.
