SXSW: ‘Death Of A Unicorn’ Offers Up Creature Feature Love

Death of a Unicorn mixes a creature feature with a shot at big pharma and never shies away from wearing its inspiration on its sleeves. Directed and written by Alex Scharfman, this directorial feature debut focuses on a father, Elliot (Paul Rudd), ready to take the next step in his career. But to do so, he has to show his rich boss that he and his daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), are the perfect family.

Having lost her mother, Ridley is anxious and self-isolating. At the same time, Elliot is too worried about work that he’ll let his daughter hit her head on a seat just to pick up some documents he dropped. A workaholic by any other name, Elliot is dedicated to helping the ailing company owner as he prepares for death due to a terminal illness. When they meet the eccentric family, it’s only the butler Griff (Anthony Carrigan) who has any common sense.

To make matters worse, this isn’t just an awkward family meeting in a secluded mansion estate. The father-daughter duo also managed to hit and kill a unicorn while en route to this uncomfortable weekend retreat. Like any unicorn story, the blood from the creature cures all ailments and injuries, and to the big pharma family, well, the creatures are on their land. Now, the billionaire boss is deadset on exploiting the creature’s miraculous curative properties. Only the unicorns aren’t backing down.

Death of a Unicorn leans heavily on the starpower and talent of its cast, even when the script falters.

Death of a Unicorn relies on its stacked cast. As easy as it is to love Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega‘s father-daughter duo, it’s the terrible, awful rich people who absolutely steal the show. Even when the script gets into a funk, which happens consistently, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, and Will Poulter as Odell, Belinda, and Shep respectively pull it back out.

The amount of physical comedy in the film is matched by the constant goring of characters on unicorn horns, and it winds up paying off substantially more than the film’s message of focusing on your family over work. Poulter’s interactions with the unicorn and the dust that comes from it are some of the film’s most successful gags. His endless charm and his character’s relentless stupidity is a perfect mix.

Truthfully, even though I’m mixed on Death of a Unicorn, Poulter is an actor who never fails to deliver or make the most out of a limited script. Poulter understands that his comedic presence isn’t just in-line delivery or the situation around him but a full-body experience. That understanding allows him to take over every single gag to the max and land them all.

Death of a Unicorn’s biggest flaw is how much it relies on computer-generated animations and loves practical effects. The heavy-handed CGI is overworked to the point that any practical effects work disappears. Instead, you’re left with creature models that oscillate between interestingly intimidating and awkward beyond belief. It’s not a be-all-end-all, but when a film consistently references one of the single-treated special effects films in the cinema, it’s hard not to yearn for something more.

Practical effects were used in this A24 film, but they’re burried in bad CGI creature models.

If the unicorns are the film’s weakest part, the love of creature features is its strongest. The homages paid to Jurrasic Park, Alien, and other titles are comedically done almost shot for shot, yet they work. Sure, we can look to where it’s done better, particularly given the fidelity of the creature models, but it still gives audiences a hook, which goes a long way. From the close-up shots to the unicorn roar itself, it’s clear that filmmaker Alex Scharfman is looking to the past to craft this film.

Death of a Unicorn is a film I wanted to love, but as it progresses, it’s hard not to think of the references it keeps barraging the audience with, so much so that the unicorn begins to feel less like something unique and more like a gimmick.

While the film’s comedic violence and justifiably mean deaths all work, the excitement is contained to the final act. That is when the guardrails come off, and the film hits a sweet spot. It leans into a B-movie energy that embraces a bloody angle that pays off. Fortunately, a good third act mostly makes up for an initial two that aim for sentimentality but don’t land entirely.

Death of a Unicorn may struggle initially and rely on too much replication, even for an original concept, but it’s still a fun time at the movies. If you walk in for anyone, do so for an effortlessly funny and scene-stealing Will Poulter.

Death of a Unicorn screened as a part of the 2025 SXSW Film Festival and will be released by A24.