In many ways, America and much of the developed world, is currently in the midst of an ethical crisis. As tech companies continue to move toward perfecting artificial intelligence, even as concerns loom regarding a potential shrinkage of the human workforce, privacy, and effect on the environment, and authoritarian governments slowly gain power around the globe while threatening civil liberties, societies wrestle with the question of how far is too far in the pursuit of profit, safety, convenience, and other desires. These philosophical questions are now starting to creep into our art as well, most recently with this year’s Mickey 17 and now just weeks later with the release of Death of a Unicorn.
The film feature Elliot Kinter (Paul Rudd), a father and corporate lawyer for a pharmaceutical company who is taking his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) to a weekend retreat, to meet his terminally ill billionaire boss Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), his wife Belinda (Tèa Leoni), and their son Shepard (Will Poulter) as Odell makes preparations for the transfer of his affairs. On the way there, Elliot and Ridley accidentally hit and kill a unicorn with the group soon discovering the creature’s blood and horn have magical healing properties. Soon, the Leopolds seek to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties to enrich themselves and their rich associates while Ridley seeks to stop them in service to the creature with whom she’s established a mysterious bond. Elliot must then decide between his professional future or his relationship with his daughter.
Much like the aforementioned sci-fi comedy Mickey 17, Death of a Unicorn mixes genre fare with comedy to examine the current societal tug of war surrounding morality and ethics, in this case melding horror with humor. As with the former, the crux of the Death’s plot begins with questions surrounding the ethics of animal testing and utilizing their lives and bodies for the benefit of humans. Ridley plays the conscience of the group, extolling the virtues of being moral and caring toward creatures with extraordinary gifts while her father and the Leopolds lean toward indulging the human proclivity toward ambition, greed, and consumption. The push and pull between the two sides offers commentary on our own society’s battle between those who would have humanity preserve and coexist with nature versus those who only focus on individuality and the continued growth of money and material goods, no matter the cost. The Leopolds specifically serve as a manifestation of the exploitative and callous nature of the wealthy, using whomever and whatever they access to in order to serve their own ends without any care for how it may affects others.
It’s an interesting concept, but how Death of a Unicorn executes the idea is less interesting than the idea itself. The story never elevates past a service level examination of the themes at its center, the Leopolds mere archetypes of wealthy, greedy individuals without much depth or complexity. There was an opportunity there with Odell for instance as the unicorn’s magical properties brought him back from the brink of terminal cancer, but his mindset isn’t deeply delved into and instead, he just because the typical Scrooge type movie villain than someone wrestling with mortality and lucrative discovery. Poulter’s performance as the ne’er-do-well spoiled son is fantastic and funny, and the film’s comedy connects overall, with Leoni and Grant also offering quality turns as husband and wife, even if the characters lacked much depth. Despite the quality of acting, the thin story makes Death of a Unicorn feel more like a missed opportunity than a film fully realized.
The strongest emotional throughline is Ridley and Elliot’s relationship, strained by their matriarch’s premature death and Elliot’s struggle to balance fatherhood and patriarchal provisioning. The arc of the young woman and widower trying to relate to each other and repair their relationship is well developed with a conclusion that feels both natural and earned, the clear strength of the film. Ortega and Rudd display chemistry that feels real and performances that also lend credence and empathy to their characters’ emotional struggle and the tumult of their father-daughter relationship. For a lower budget indie film, the visual effects in the film are also top notch, the unicorns being designed well and integrated well with the live action actors. But alas, the well written and executed family storyline between Ridley and Elliott, and the quality VFX, aren’t enough to make Death of a Unicorn a compelling watch as it fails to capitalize on its premise. It has some good elements and isn’t a complete bore, but is probably better for a night in on the couch with some popcorn than a trip to the theaters.
Image: A24
