AUSTIN – A horror-comedy that is infinitely more well-crafted and thoughtful than it has any business being, writer/director Alex Scharfman’s delightful debut “Death of a Unicorn” is the type of B movie that feels like it’s tapped into something truly magical all its own. Not only does it have a clever sense of humor and a surprising amount of heart hidden away underneath all the many genre shenanigans it gets up to that come together to recall Steven Spielberg’s iconic “Jurassic Park,” but it also builds with a refreshing amount of patience that ensures the eventual bloody chaos lands perfectly. Even better, each member of the cast is absolutely excellent, sliding into their respective roles like they were born to play them and giving everything that much more bite. It all makes for a clever, measured, mirthful, and joyous film with the real potential to be a modern monster movie classic whose legs could easily see it sprinting into being a routine rewatch every single year. 
This all kicks off with the father-daughter duo of Ridley (Jenna Ortega) and Elliot (Paul Rudd) heading off on a work trip to a remote wilderness retreat run by an ailing wealthy pharmaceutical CEO. Things are already tense, as the patriarch seems to be the only one who actually wants to go and won’t speak about a tragedy both are clearly still dealing with, though that is going to be downright peachy in comparison to everything else that unfolds. When not paying attention to the road after his phone goes on the fritz, Elliot plows right through a baby unicorn. Everyone is (understandably) stunned by what just happened, but neither quite knows what to do. The more compassionate of the two, Ridley leans over and checks to see if the creature is okay. When she touches the horn, she forms some sort of mental link with the dying being and begins to have a shared vision of vibrant colors. But before she can fully see all that it is trying to show her, Elliot bashes its brains in with a tire iron. It’s the first of many darkly fun punchlines that, just as the film never overplays its hand, only grow more wonderfully absurd. 
After loading the being up in their car, Ridley and Elliot arrive at the enormous residence of Odell (Richard E. Grant), his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni), and his son Shepard (Will Poulter). All treat their visitors with only a thinly veiled disdain even as he is coming to help them as their lawyer and supposedly become a partner in their company. Always in the background is the staff of Griff (Anthony Carrigan) and Shaw (Jessica Hynes) who work tirelessly for the family that cares little for them either. What begins as a more familiarly awkward business weekend quickly gets upended when the unicorn Ridley and Elliot brought there turns out to be (seemingly) still alive as well as a source of healing properties. With dollar signs in his eyes, Odell and his family decide to do whatever they can to exploit this to somehow make even more money. However, there will come a heavy cost that not even they are prepared to pay. 
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Anything else that plays out after that is best left to the film, as let’s just say there is more than one unicorn they’ll have to contend with, but it’s remarkable how whip-smart this film is while remaining rather coy about what it has in store. Never once does it feel like it is dragging as we get to know all of the characters with their insecurities and flaws laid bare in endlessly humorous fashion. As Ridley tries to make them see sense and that maybe they shouldn’t be trying to use the unicorn for their own selfish purposes, there is also a genuinely heartfelt throughline about how Elliot is not sticking up for what’s right in the naive hope that they’ll be rewarded by the wealthy family. While some of the emotional notes don’t always fully land as it explores this and it’s far from subtle, it’s an effective undercurrent to what becomes the main event: the unicorns themselves. 
While clearly CGI creations, not only are the effects mostly pretty good, but Scharfman smartly doesn’t show too much of them too early and instead leaves them lurking in the shadows or bellowing from afar. Though this could easily lose some people looking for the film to come out of the gate with more of them in action, it’s more than worth the wait to then see them burst into the film in all their glory. When they are finally unleashed on the greedy humans who are all woefully out of their depth, the patience with which everything plays out pays off in spades. Expertly shot by cinematographer Larry Fong like they’re the terrifying raptors from the aforementioned “Jurassic Park,” the unicorns go from being shadows skewering those who are unlucky enough to come within range of their horns to lurking creatures obliterating everyone under the cover of darkness. It’s all quite gruesome fun, but it isn’t just relying on the gore to grab you. Instead, it’s about the slow building of tension and the joyous release that comes from a filmmaker who knows how to draw you in with craft as well as spectacle. 
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Without overstating things, as there is still plenty that is more scrappy and not quite fully polished, it’s a film that feels as if Spielberg had a bit of a mean streak that rears up whenever the film needs it to. When it shifts into being a full-on home invasion and battle between the humans vs. the unicorns before subverting this, it’s a blast in all the best ways. For the sickos amongst us, it may just have you not only believing in unicorns, but fearing them too. [B+]
“Death of a Unicorn” had its World Premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. It will release in theaters starting March 28 via A24. 
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