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Death Of A Unicorn might just feature… the death of a unicorn. I know, I just wanted to warn anyone who gets upset about needless deaths.
Ridley (Jenna Ortega – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and her father, Elliot (Paul Rudd – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), are off to the latter’s boss’ big, posh house, for the weekend, the head honcho being Odell Leopold (Richard E Grant – Saltburn), who lives there with his wife and son, Belinda (Téa Leoni) and Shepard (Will Poulter – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3), respectively.
Unfortunately, they hit a snag, as they PHYSICALLY hit something along the way… that just happens to be a unicorn. As it dies, she sees its glowing horn, touches it and experiences something she never has done before… Will it survive? Er… see title.
Unfortunately, for Odell, he’s dying from terminal cancer, while Elliot has exceedingly bad eyesight, and something’s already happened for Ridley, who just happens to be a nerd about these particular creatures.
I assumed from the trailer that when they hit it, it was going to be a family pet for the Leopolds, but they’re as mystified by its presence as anyone, and despite Odell’s condition, it was amusing to hear him shout at someone, while on the phone, “I won’t be pushed around like some Labour leader!”
Everyone, brilliantly, plays it straight, including when its angry mother turns up, and the film turns into Jurassic Park, as the unicorn chases them round the house. There’s few occasions when anyone rests on their laurels.
Add in a strange occurence of Aurora Borealis…. er… Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localised entirely within their estate? Yes.
…and Death Of A Unicorn is a fun film, but it does rather go on a bit, could do with losing about 10-15 minutes along the way, and falls into the usual cliche of whenever a character thinking that they’re safe… leading to the moment when danger strikes! Plus, too much of the manic chase scenes happen in the dark.
Still, Jenna Ortega is uber hot…
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credit scenes.
Death Of A Unicorn is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 107 minutes
Release date: April 4th 2025
Studio: A24
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Rating: 7/10
Director: Alex Scharfman
Producers: Tyler Campellone, Tim Headington, Drew Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Theresa Steele Page, Alex Scharfman
Screenplay: Alex Scharfman
Music: Giosuè Greco, Dan Romer
Cast:
Ridley: Jenna Ortega
Elliot: Paul Rudd
Griff: Anthony Carrigan
Odell: Richard E Grant
Belinda: Téa Leoni
Shepard: Will Poulter
Shaw: Jessica Hynes
Dr. Bhatia: Sunita Mani
Dr. Song: Steve Park
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.