Death of a Unicorn

Selling a movie is an art form all its own. It’s not just about editing a few scenes down for a two-minute trailer; it’s about selling expectations. You have to deliver the tone and nature of the film while highlighting the cast and delivering a couple of key thrills, ideally all of that without spoilers. If there were a movie that was sold perfectly to audiences as a Horror/Comedy Social Satire Creature Feature, it’d be Death of a Unicorn. Somehow, some folks just didn’t get that idea from the trailer.

Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his teenage daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega), are traveling for a retreat with the billionaire pharma Leopold family. Elliot hopes to secure his position as the family lawyer, while Ridley just hopes to get through the weekend. On their way in, Elliot accidentally strikes a strange horse-like creature with a bizarre horn-shaped protrusion on its head. Little do they expect, the creature’s blood seems to have miraculous healing properties. When family patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant) is suddenly cured from cancer, his son Shepard (Will Poulter) and wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) start seeing dollar signs. But the retreat turns deadly when the unicorn’s parents arrive at the compound looking to settle the score. 

So I had a gas with Death of a Unicorn. I guess I was in the right mood, because I thought this film was funny as hell and delivered on its premise. It's not a perfect film or anything, but a damned entertaining one. When it needed to be funny, it was hilarious. When it needed to be scary, it worked in some delightfully gnarly creature feature scares. Best of all, the cast is in peak form. While Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are great and do their roles justice, I thought it was the Leopolds who stole the film. Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, and Will Poulter were hilarious as the daft and out-of-touch billionaire family. Grant digs into a bizarro-world alternate version of his character from Saltburn while Téa Leoni goes hard into the faux-socially conscious wife, all while Will Poulter virtually snorts up every scene he’s in. Rounding out the support team, we get some very fun performances from Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Steve Park, and Jessica Hynes caught in the middle of the Leopold's greed and the Unicorns' vengeful bloodlust. 

If I have to leverage any kind of meaningful complaint about Death of a Unicorn, it’s that it doesn’t quite nail the balance of horror, humor, and social commentary. For several stretches, subtlety is not its strongest suit. Messaging about exploiting the natural world for humanity’s gain is nearly beaten to death with a tire iron. That leaves the film to sometimes awkwardly see-saw between creature feature horror and dry dark comedy. A number of segments land well, and there’s a fun homage to Aliens as the deadly unicorns get closer and closer. Some gags play too long, some not long enough, but overall, it works out in the end.

While it might be a bit uneven, I had a fun with Death of a Unicorn. Like I said, it’s not perfect, but after watching that trailer, I got what I went to the theater to see. It was funny. It was gory and a little scary. Front to back, it was a silly concept from the start that I think some folks just took too seriously because it was released by A24. Writer/Director Alex Scharfman made a damned entertaining film. It probably could have been tightened up a bit to ease some of the tonal whiplash, but that's an aside that I think is easy to overlook and just enjoy the show. It’s a movie that sets out to take you for a wild ride and entertain. I've been entertained twice through with this flick now. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Death of a Unicorn slaughters our collections for a single-disc Blu-ray release from A24. The disc is pressed on a BD50 disc and comes housed in A24’s standard DigiPack packaging with stylish case artwork and slipcase cover. Also included six postcards. The disc loads to an animated main menu with basic navigation options.

I may not fully understand why some of A24’s releases get 4K disc releases and others don’t, but at the very least Death of a Unicorn earns an impressive 1080p 2.39:1 transfer. The film is often bold and colorful and crisply detailed. The scenic mountains and forested locations are lush and beautiful, while the mansion/compound where most of the action takes place is impressively ornate. Practical creature effects are nicely designed, so for the few glory shots we get, we can see the craftsmanship in action. The CG unicorns blend well enough; they’re supposed to be “otherworldly,” so they fit, but the film's coda moment might have been a step too far. Black levels for the scarier sequences look nice and inky, and we get some nice depth and shadows from the limited light sources. All around a strong transfer.

On the audio front, we have an effective but restrained Dolby Atmos mix. I say restrained only because, as far as Atmos tracks go, it’s not going out of its way to blast every channel at you. It’s very purposeful and deliberate, and in that way it works nicely. Dialog is clean without issue throughout. Most stretches feel like the mix is mostly front/center focused, but there’s always a little something spread through the soundscape to make those side, rear, or height channels fire. Take the opening scene on the airplane as an example, not a “blast your ears off” scene of activity, but the ding of the captain’s announcement or the whispery “rabble rabble” of the other passengers and the whine of the engines fill the scene nicely. The rest of the film plays out in a similar way. Once we move to the Leopolds' compound or when they go out hunting for the unicorns, the channel spread finds fun, purposeful ways to fire those channels.

Bonus features are a bit on the slim side, but what we lack in quantity is made up for with quality. At the head of the pack is an enjoyable, engaging commentary track with Alex Scharfman. After that, we get 15 minutes of making-of that is much better than the average EPK soundbite pack. Then we get about 13 minutes of deleted scenes that I can see why they were cut for pacing, but at the same time, a part of me thinks some of that tonal inconsistency might have evened out with this material left intact. 

• Audio Commentary featuring writer/director Alex Scharfman
• How To Kill A Unicorn (HD 15:17)
• Deleted Scenes (HD 13:04)

Death of a Unicorn wasn’t the greatest flick ever made, certainly not the best film I've seen in 2025, but it was a damned fun horror/comedy creature feature. I went to the theater and got what I wanted to see, and now, on home video, I get to enjoy it all over again. Thankfully, it stands up for repeat viewings, largely thanks to the terrific cast leaning into their respective roles with enthusiasm. It’s funny, a bit scary, it might overplay the social commentary, but the flick’s a fun ride. On Blu-ray, Death of a Unicorn scores a strong 1080p transfer with an equally strong Atmos mix. Bonus features might be slim, but they’re worth the time. Recommended