Death of a Unicorn Review: A Bizarre Unicorn That Isn’t Very Magical

A24 is becoming another Blumhouse with great horror flicks, one after the other, but with a different approach. Although A24 has a distinct brand identity, its movies are soft style while Blumhouse focuses more on low-budget but serious horror feature films. 

Another A24 release, Death of a Unicorn, opened in theatres the same day as The Woman in the Yard– two horror movies, but this one has comedy, too. However, its performance is a little lower than the latter.

Here is our version of Death of a Unicorn review that will help you decide whether you should skip it or go to your nearby theatre and grab a ticket instantly. 

Plot of Death of a Unicorn

In our previous article, we gave an overview of the film’s plot, but for revisiting purposes, Elliot (played by Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (played by Jenna Ortega) accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat. They don’t know what the dead animal is capable of and possess some healing powers. 

Elliot’s wealthy boss is after the healing qualities so that they can make their pharmaceutical profits. However, they are unaware of the hunt the unicorn’s parents have started for them. Watch the trailer here for a recap:

Director’s vision for the film 

Alex Scharfman is the co-founder of his production company ‘Secret Engine’ under which he made his first official directorial debut. The film was first premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film and TV Festival.  

Scharfman told Gizmodo why he decided to cast Jenna Ortega with some hilarious actors and why he felt the need to make it a satirical comedy with an element of fantasy. A great part of his inspiration came from his own idea of the first scene of the movie, and then he took some time to build upon that. He clarified that it is a total coincidence that Death of a Unicorn resembles Kurt Vonnegut’s Unicorn Trap. 

He explained he took about one and a half years to think where the story would go from there, what a unicorn is, and how he would transform his idea into a film. Later, he started researching “unicorn mythology and unicorn lore” and found that it was more about social structures and strata.

How? Because, 

“Those are about the lord sending out his court and minions to go kill a unicorn and bring it back to him so he can possess it forever.” [Source]

The same idea is seen in the film when the pharmaceutical boss wants the unicorn to use its healing powers in the medicine to make profits out of it. Fundamentally, the director wanted to show that it is more about class and satire intertwining to demonstrate the idea of commodifying nature. Hence, horror and satire go hand in hand in this flick. 

On the other hand, while talking to Collider, Scharfman cited that how he decided to make his first feature film was more about checking “a number of boxes in terms of excitement levels”. He wanted to make a movie that made him fall in love with movies, mostly from his youth, as he got more excited to watch them. 

Those movies provided him “populist escapism”, and he felt that is something “worth holding on to”. 

Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega’s performances in Death of a Unicorn

Jenna Ortega has been doing almost the same roles as this one in The BabySitters: Killer Queen, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Scream. She is showing off as an angsty teenager who feels she is ignored by the enlightened Millennials and believes she is unheard. It has made her acting seemingly flat in Death of a Unicorn.

Paul Rudd is known for his goofy roles but here he plays a little different. He is a meek father who actually ignored, which Ridley was right about, his daughter’s concerns. His character, at some point, feels frustrated since he thinks he is doing the right thing, but in reality, he’s not. Rather than making his bond stronger with his daughter and caring to listen to her, which was the totally opposite when their bond seemed strong going on a retreat, this appears quite a contrast. 

Besides, Jenna Ortega knows that her performances in Wednesday and Death of a Unicorn have positioned her as a “Gen-Z sage”, as quoted by The Cut.

(The article is updated with the above-cited piece of information about Jenna Ortega’s own views of her position.) 

Death of a Unicorn‘s gross earnings at the box office

According to The Numbers, Death of a Unicorn earned $8,850,993 at the domestic box office at the time of writing, which is lower than that of The Woman in the Yard, released on the same day.  

What do critics add to the Death of a Unicorn review?

 

 

 

 

 

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The overall critics’ consensus of Rotten Tomatoes said, 

“Receiving some sparkle from Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega’s father-daughter rapport, Death of a Unicorn‘s broad satire is a bit too on the horn but makes for an entertainingly splattery creature feature.”

Other notable reviews include:

• “Death of a Unicorn starring Jenna Ortega is as basic creature features get”- The Independent
• “It’s silly fun at a time when it feels like we could all use an escape”- Roger-Ebert
• “Death of a Unicorn is a passive and ultimately tiring experience”- IGN

Fans reaction

The film received mixed reactions from the viewers, where some called it “a sprinkle of magic but ultimately mundane”, “this one tried too hard and delivered too little”, and “lots of laughs and crazy scenes”. 

The general audience did agree that the film was thoroughly entertaining as the viewers’ ratings were higher than those of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Is it worth watching?

For one time, yes. It is a good social commentary about things that you don’t know about and shouldn’t be messed with, and how social class, power, and the need for control create chaos for the rest of the lives. 

The CGI might seem falling off here and there but creature VFX and graphics are crafted similar to those of Jurassic Park, as the unicorn was meant to be scary in this one.

They are no dreamy creatures like the ones in My Little Pony; the CGI feels shaky in some scenes, apparently artificial, but in other scenes, it is okay. These unicorns are mighty and scary, only here to petrify.  

Our rating: 6/10

Is Death of a Unicorn available for streaming?

Death of a Unicorn (rated R), an A24 release, is currently showing in cinemas and does not have a release date for online streaming yet. 

Genre: Dark comedy, horror, fantasy, horror, thriller 

IMDb rating: 6.4

Rotten Tomatoes: 54 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) and 78 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, David Pasquesi, Anthony Carrigan, Tea Leoni, Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant

Director: Alex Scharfman

Writer: Alex Scharfman

Producers: Alex Scharfman, Drew P. Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Tyler Campellone, Lars Knudsen, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page

Release date: March 28, 2025

Movie runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes

Have you watched Death of a Unicorn? Do you agree with the review here? How did you find it? Let us know in the comments.