Of 2025’s slate of original films, there’s not many as intriguing and star studded as Death of a Unicorn. Boasting names like Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, and Will Poulter, it’s the movie’s famous cast combined with a unique premise that has elicited such a strong buzz. That is, of course, the promise of A24, a studio that made its name on taking big swings with far-out premises, auteur directors, and a commitment to strong production design. Given the nature of Hollywood’s IP driven business model, and the fact that A24 has only grown in notoriety and investors, there’s been some trepidation from audiences that the studio will eventually make its way down the path of derivative assembly line filmmaking currently associated with the bigger studios. Never say never – that day may one day still come – but for now, a film like Death of a Unicorn represents the mid-budget, fun, unpredictable cinema that’s often missing from our theater diet. That doesn’t mean it’ll be a masterpiece, but its mere existence is a welcome sign.
The film is written and directed by Alex Scharfman, a man so famous, so iconic, and so universally respected that, as of this writing, he doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page. Yeah, he’s not that well known (you have to go all the way to Letterboxd to find the other movies in his filmography), but he’s the type of burgeoning director the studio loves taking chances on. And, in the movie he’s created, we see a story that feels at once enigmatic, bizarre, familiar, and metaphorical:
Elliot Kintner and his teenage daughter Ridley accidentally hit a unicorn while en route to a crisis management summit with Elliot’s boss, Odell Leopold, and his family. The Leopolds seize the unicorn, and their scientists discover that the creature is endowed with supernaturally curative properties, which the Leopolds seek to exploit. However, as they delve deeper into their research, the unicorn’s parents arrive and begin to slaughter one by one those involved in the exploitation of their dead foal.
That the film’s premise, one that sets up clear symbolic parallels to reality while still priming us for the final destination that the climax will take us to. It’s a setup that weirdly gives a lot away, but also not everything away. Regardless, the film’s most recent trailer not only shows more glimpses at its majestic visuals but also hints at a pivot into horror not previously seen in the movie’s earlier marketing materials:
I find it funny that this trailer is much shorter than the previously released “teaser,” whilst showing more of the plot regardless. From an acting perspective, there isn’t much here to determine who in this cast might steal the show, although I guess Will Poulter is shaping up to have many of the comic relief lines. Despite the A-list roster, the trailer is much more focused on selling its concept, which is likely a good sign for the movie’s story.
The film is ultimately setting up a story that further critiques the exploitation conducted by the wealthy. A metaphor that extends to cover how this exploitation negatively affects animals, the environment, and regular citizens. It’s a persistent theme due to its real-world relevance, but the film’s challenge will be in adding new dialogue to that conversation. Can Jenna Ortega’s character effectively convince those closest to her to consider the perspective of a wild animal? The way that narrative handles such potentially saccharine material will determine how it resonates with audiences.
All in all, this looks like a lot of fun, a fresh concept fused with a familiar message that we’ve seen resonate before. It also seems incredibly pertinent to today’s social climate, and it will be just as interesting to see how this film is critiqued and debated about as the actual movie itself. While it’s certainly possible the narrative may arrive to us imperfect in the final product, at the very least, I’m confident the movie will be entertaining in how it combines its comedic and horror elements. It’s a weird blend of ingredients, but that’s what makes it fun and a risky demonstration of art. Which is precisely the type of non-franchise cinema we need an abundance of.
Death of a Unicorn gallops with a vengeance into theaters on March 28, 2025.
