Films for Breakfast

Class satires are a dime a dozen these days – of course, they have been around since the early days of cinema, but it feels like the release and massive success of 2022’s The Menu has reignited something within Hollywood to deliver this hyper-specific brand of class satires. Death of a Unicorn is the latest to find an entry into this brand of satire, as the film follows Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) as they journey to a remote estate owned by the mega-wealthy Leopold family, where Elliot is trying to secure a high-ranked position at their company. While en route to their estate, Elliot accidentally hits a creature with his car that seemingly is a unicorn. It doesn’t take long for the Leopold family, whose success rides off of their pharmaceutical endeavors, to find a way to exploit and profit from the unicorn.

The best thing I can say about Death of the Unicorn is that everyone is at the top of their game comedically here – and that feels pretty pivotal when you’re making a satire. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are both reliable performers, and they deliver solid performances here as a father-daughter duo, even sharing some genuinely sweet sequences together as well. The Leopold family is where a majority of the laughs come in – Richard E. Grant and Tea Leoni balance being unlikable and hilarious fairly well here as the heads of the estate, and Barry star Anthony Carrigan also serves some memorable moments as their employee Griff. However, Will Poulter truly is the MVP here as the aloof son of the Leopold family Shepard – all of his scenes are truly hysterical, as he fully commits to the bit.

On a surface level, the film is entertaining enough to stay afloat for its 108-minute running time. It never feels like its overstaying its welcome and it makes you laugh consistently enough that you will more than likely be entertained by it. Beneath the surface, I can’t help but feel like the film is incredibly lazy within its messaging and often feels pretty slim within what its actually trying to say about wealth, greed, and exploitation. It doesn’t feel like there’s much beneath the surface here aside from “the rich will exploit anything and everything for personal gain” which… yes! I know! But when there are so many films released each year that say the same thing, isn’t it imperative to find something deeper or more thoughtful to say about the matter?

From a filmmaking perspective, the film is a bit hit-or-miss. While the performances are all on-point comedically, sometimes the writing for the characters is a bit stilted and it feels like the punchlines are only saved by how the performers deliver them; the same can be said for the direction, which often feels super generic. The film begins and ends on a high-note, but there are large sections in the middle that feel as if the film is in auto-pilot and doesn’t quite know how to overcome its own pacing issues and get to the meat of the story.

On the other hand, there are some genuinely solid horror sequences here and moments of excitement when the unicorns wreak havoc on the estate. When the film works within its effective horror elements, goes fully absurdist, or relies on its excellent cast – it succeeds in being a light and entertaining horror-comedy. But whenever the film tries to lean too heavily into its deeper themes, the cracks underneath begin to show. However, its fun enough that I can give it a recommendation, especially if you enjoy any of the actors involved.