Death of a Unicorn
Hans Zimmer Teaches Film Scoring
A widower and his daughter accidentally kill a unicorn on their way to a retreat in Death of a Unicorn. Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) is a recently widowed man with a strained relationship with his teenage daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega). Hoping to secure his career advancement and financial stability, Elliot takes Ridley along to a crisis management summit at a wilderness retreat owned by Elliot’s boss Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), the wealthy owner of a pharmaceutical company, who is secretly dying of cancer. Elliot hopes to secure a deal with Odell and his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and son Shepard (Will Poulter), which would give him a place on the company’s board.
While driving through the wilderness reserve, Elliot hits an animal in the middle of the road, which turns out to be a real-life unicorn. After discovering it in the trunk of Elliot’s car, the Leopolds proceed to experiment on the unicorn and discover that the blood and horn have amazing curative properties, which cure Odell of his cancer. While the Leopolds prepare to exploit these healing properties for monetary gain, the unicorn’s parents arrive on the compound and they are not happy.
Death of a Unicorn Synopsis
Death of a Unicorn is a satirical horror-comedy from first-time writer/director Alex Scharfman and executive producer Ari Aster (Beau is Afraid, Dream Scenario). The film stars Paul Rudd (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) and Jenna Ortega (Scream, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) as Elliot Kintner and his daughter Ridley, whose relationship has been strained since the death of Elliot’s wife. Elliot is also single-mindedly focused on securing financial security by joining the board of the pharmaceutical company he works for.
Elliot’s boss Odell Leopold, played by Richard E. Grant (Saltburn), is dying of cancer and wants to use this weekend retreat to get to know Elliot and Ridley before signing any paperwork. The retreat is also attended by Odell’s wife Belinda, played by Téa Leoni in her first film role since 2011’s Tower Heist, and son Shepard, played by Will Poulter (Midsommar, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), and faithfully served by butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan) and personal assistant Shaw (Jessica Hynes). Things change when the Leopolds discover that Elliot and Ridley accidentally killed a unicorn on the way to the retreat.
After discovering the curative properties of unicorn blood, which are more potent in the horn, moves go underway to develop a new and extremely rare miracle drug to sell to the highest bidder. However, Ridley does research into the mythology surrounding unicorns and discovers that they become vengeful and violent beasts. These fears become reality as two larger unicorns storm the compound and decimate those who harmed their child.
My Thoughts on Death of a Unicorn
Death of a Unicorn is most interesting in the first half of the film when it is presented primarily as a satire of both the 1% and Big Pharma. After Richard E. Grant’s Odell Leopold finds that unicorn blood cures his cancer, he immediately makes moves to develop and market this miracle cure. However, as these curative properties cannot be replicated, the decision is made to make this cure available to only the ultra-elite.
Death of the Unicorn depicts the antagonistic Leopold family as exploiting the unicorn is very careless and cruel ways. This includes mixing unicorn blood into cocktails, snorting ground-up horn like cocaine, and even eating a unicorn steak. In many ways, the Leopolds deserve what’s coming to them when the unicorn’s parents come to the compound seeking very bloody revenge. However, when the attack begins, Death of a Unicorn degrades into a mess of a creature horror film. The final act of the film plays off like a low-grade Jurassic Park, which becomes more about the various gory ways unicorns can impale people or tear out their entrails.
I would have to argue that Paul Rudd was miscast as Elliott Kintner since the character is quite selfish for much of the film and it is not believable seeing someone as charming and loveable as Paul Rudd portrayed that way (and I’m going to refrain on joking about unicorn blood being responsible for Rudd looking so youthful in his mid-50s). Jenna Ortega fares better and her character Ridley is arguably the true protagonist of the film, sharing some sort of psychic connection with the unicorns that is never fully explained. However, the true standout in the cast is Barry‘s Anthony Carrigan as the silently suffering butler Griff, who finally gets to let loose during the climax.
Ultimately, Death of the Unicorn is a film that suffers from a major identity crisis. The film can either be a satire about the 1% exploiting miracle cures for monetary gain or a gory horror-comedy that goes against the belief of unicorns being peaceful and magical creatures. In trying to be both, Death of the Unicorn ends up being a mess of a film.
Trailer for Death of a Unicorn
