Watch my quick review of Death of a Unicorn on YouTube here

We are deep into the modern “eat the rich” era of movies. From Parasite to The Menu to Triangle of Sadness to Glass Onion to something as recent as Mickey 17, class conflict has been a major subject in cinema.

Our latest tale of greed and obscene wealth is Death of a Unicorn, which seeks to throw a little supernatural element into its commentary on Big Pharma and the selfishness of the mega-rich.

Paul Rudd is Elliot, a widowed father trying to suck up to his boss, pharmaceutical CEO Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant). It seems Odell is a family man and wants to get to know Elliot before he entrusts him with company control, so he invites him to bring his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) to the Leopold family’s resort in a wilderness preserve. Ridley is against being used as a prop by her father, and the two argue constantly. 

During one such argument, a distracted Elliot hits an animal with his car, only for the two to discover that it’s actually a mythical unicorn. Unsure of what to do, they load the roadkill in the car and attempt to act like everything is normal. 

When Odell, his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni), and son Shepard (Will Poluter) discover the creature and its healing properties, greed takes over and they’re determined to harvest every last ounce for their own gain.

It’s a fun premise that could open up so many avenues for comedy and commentary. On top of that, we have a very talented cast of actors who could really deliver in these roles. But something just doesn’t come together in execution.

Standout performances from side characters

Despite the talents of the main cast, the characters feel so limited that they’re not really able to stretch their comedic skills or bring some spark to the screenplay. Thankfully, we have a few side characters who understand the assignment and nail the tone that this film so desperately needs.

Poulter is an absolute standout here. He’s giving an idiotic, overly confident, coked-up Don Jr. without explicitly copying a real-life figure. Sheppard’s obsession with chilling in the hot tub or his “expertise” in various subjects without actually knowing anything really adds to the comedy. He’s going big with it, and I found myself wishing the other actors would do the same.

Another huge highlight is Anthony Carrigan, who plays the family butler, Griff. Carrigan was my favorite part of HBO’s Barry and I love what he’s able to do with limited screentime in Death of a Unicorn. Griff is sarcastic and snarky under his breath with some of the best laughs in the entire film. Despite how mediocre the final product of this movie is, I hope this inspires more casting directors to put Carrigan in their projects because I want to see him on my screen more often.

Weak links and disappointing results

Unfortunately, the skills of the rest of the main cast feel wasted in Death of a Unicorn. 

Grant feels relegated to a watered-down version of his character from Saltburn, and his arc is telegraphed so strongly that you can see it from the movie theater’s parking lot. Similarly, Leoni gives us her best, but she’s fighting against a screenplay that limits her character to more of an aesthetic than any distinct personality traits.

Ortega is once again relegated to an angsty goth teen type of role. It’s like Hollywood saw Wednesday and decided to never let her do anything else. We literally just saw her as a moody girl who questions her parent in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and we seem to have copied and pasted that in Death of a Unicorn—but wait, this time she vapes!

Rudd is the most disappointing because we know he’s capable of so much more than the roles he’s been selecting. He’s one of the most naturally charming and likable actors around, and he seems stuck playing affable father figures trying their best these days. Where’s the humor? Does no one even remember how funny he could be in movies like Anchorman or The 40-Year-Old Virgin? Why aren’t we letting him have any jokes in these new movies?

In addition to the weak writing from writer/director Alex Scharfman, we’re also left with very mediocre visuals and wonky VFX. There’s nothing memorable or interesting about the presentation here, and it ends up looking like a streaming movie. I can forgive bad CGI unicorns if the story is compelling or fun, but this was neither, so the dinosaur-like cartoon horses stood out even more.

Final thoughts on Death of a Unicorn

I was left wondering who this film was for. This film is rated R and too bloody for younger audiences who might like Ortega and Rudd from their recent family-friendly projects. It’s not snarky or clever enough for adults who are already on our 500th movie about wealth inequality. It’s not stylish enough to feel like A24, doesn’t have strong enough CG to work on a streamer like Netflix or Apple TV+, there’s just not enough of any one thing here to really hit any particular target.

In spite of its great cast and clever concept, Death of a Unicorn is yet another “rich people bad” movie that fails to give us anything more memorable or meaningful. There are a few spots where the film goes for bloody horror fun, but it never seems to commit to anything, aiming for a middle-of-the-road version of what could have been a very fun movie.