Don’t let the absurdist title fool you, A24's genre-defying Death of a Unicorn is a must-watch, and a smart one at that. The new film, starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, delivers social commentary in the shape of hair-brained fantasy, set to start conversations about capitalism, family, and the transcendental nature of death. All of that, plus a literal unicorn.
Ortega and Rudd play Ridley and Elliot Kintner, a father-daughter-duo who, while en route to a weekend away with dad’s boss, hit a unicorn with their car. Ridley touches the horn of the strange animal and starts having cosmic visions – which come to an abrupt stop when her dad puts the creature out of its misery, the way only a dad can. With a tire iron.
The film also features Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant, and Will Poulter as the Leopold family; aka, Elliot’s employer and his flock. Ridley and Elliot stuff their fantastical roadkill in the trunk of their car and drive it to the Leopolds’ estate, the patriarch of which suggests they experiment on the creature, as the group realizes its magical healing properties. Think, clearing Ridley’s face of teen acne and ridding Elliot of his allergies.
A group of scientists employed by the Leopold family investigate and find that shavings of the unicorn’s horn are the key to good health, having cured Odell Leopold of the cancer that was killing him. Poulter's Shep Leopold – of course his name is Shep – is a home run in character study. He’s a nepotistic heir whose cocaine-like consumption of unicorn horn serves as both comic relief and pointed metaphor for the self-destructive habits of the privileged. The Leopold estate, isolated in pristine wilderness, is literally a monument of capitalist exploitation, where mythological creatures become commodified resources for pharmaceutical profit.
As the film progresses, Ridley and Elliot’s father-daughter relationship evolves through a series of transformative crises. Elliot's character arc—from corporate climber to self-sacrificing parent—culminates in his confrontation with the Leopold dynasty.
Enough preamble, let’s get into that now. Spoilers ahead.
What happened at the end of Death of a Unicorn?
Somewhere in the middle of this 107 minute frolic, the unicorn escapes and Odell Leopold, recently cured of cancer, arranges a hunting party. The group heads to the woods and finds two older unicorns, presumably the parents of the roadkill survivor, incensed at the severed horn of their foal.
From here, the film gets bloody. The unicorns kill multiple members of the hunting party – serves ‘em right – and Elliot lures the creatures away from his daughter, allowing her to escape to safety.
Some time later, Shep thinks up a master plan. With the knowledge that these unicorns are docile towards pure-hearted people, he holds Ridley at arrow-point to coax the unicorns to him. In the end, Elliot stabs Shep with the severed unicorn horn, is reversely stabbed by his arrow, and dies. Fear not! The unicorns have the power to heal and bring him back to life. This movie is nuts.
In the end, Elliot, Ridley, and the Leopolds’ butler are arrested for mass murder (as that is what the scene implies). On their way to jail, our three unicorns barricade the police car, swerving it off the road. The film ends with a brace for impact and the sound of a car crash, leaving it up to the audience to determine how the story ends. Did Elliot and Ridley die? Did the unicorns instantly bring them back to life?
In truth, it doesn’t matter and this is not the point. The real question we should be asking as savvy viewers is, will another company powered by corporate greed step in where the Leopolds left off? Will this fantastical species be exploited by big pharma? If this were real life, the answer to both questions is yes.
