The very idea of a rampaging, murderous unicorn appears like a magical recipe for a pleasant, gory horror comedy. Simply look to the scene-stealing beast that appeared within the climax of Cabin within the Woods, utilizing its sharp, spiraling horn to gouge via crowds in fast order. Demise of a Unicorn, the characteristic debut by writer-director Alex Scharfman, does deliver the carnage and a extra monstrous imaginative and prescient of the legendary creature, however the highway attending to the gory motion is a bumpy one.
That rocky highway begins with the introduction of father-daughter duo Elliot and Ridley Kinter, performed by Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, respectively. The out-of-touch Elliot is dragging Ridley alongside on a weekend journey to the Leopold Nature Protect in a bid to signal a main contract together with his large pharma boss. When Elliot by chance crashes right into a child unicorn on the way in which, all however Ridley sees greenback indicators when the unicorn’s blood reveals itself to have magical therapeutic properties. The unicorn’s mother and father, nevertheless, don’t take kindly to the cruelty and unleash savage vengeance. Although it does take some time to get there.
Demise of a Unicorn desires to be an eat-the-rich oddball comedy, stacking its ensemble solid with fan-favorite comedic expertise like Rudd because the overly career-focused dad to the detriment of his relationship with Ridley. Richard E. Grant and Téa Leoni function the prosperous and woefully egocentric elite driving the greed ahead, additional evoking the ire of the newborn beast’s pissed off mother and father, with Will Poulter as their solely son, a spoiled man baby that manages to elicit a few of the movie’s few precise laughs. The opposite scene stealer is Anthony Carrigan because the household’s put-upon servant Griff. That leaves Ortega because the voice of purpose in a world the place cash overrides logic.
If it’s not clear, Demise of a Unicorn solid nicely. The issue is that only a few of them are likable in any method. Even Rudd struggles right here; Elliot spends a lot of the film disregarding Ridley at each flip. Scharfman makes an attempt to infuse this friction-fueled relationship because the emotional spine of the story, however Dad is such a jerk that the inevitable reconciliation feels unearned. To be honest, the Leopold household is deliberately rendered unlikable; we’re meant to root for the unicorns to dole out brutal punishment. We’re simply trapped with flat caricatures whereas we anticipate candy, candy comeuppance.
And boy, can we. Scharfman spends fairly a little bit of time with animal cruelty to additional mark characters for dying. Even in a movie that opts for noticeable CGI over sensible results, the fixed mistreatment of the newborn drags on far too lengthy to the purpose the place, when mother and pop start their carnage in earnest, it feels far too late and too little. The filmmaker cribs liberally from the Jurassic Park franchise, from unicorn anatomy particulars to The Misplaced World’s child t-rex plot, additional robbing the idea of originality.
The concept behind Demise of a Unicorn is a novel one, and Scharfman’s dedication to over-the-top spectacle is commendable. However seeing the grasping elite get taken down in brutal, gory vogue needs to be much more satisfying than that is.
Demise of a Unicorn made its premiere at SXSW and releases in theaters on March 28, 2025.
