Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
Death of a Unicorn earns strong marks for Novelty — its premise blending folk horror, dark fantasy, and satirical commentary on billionaire exploitation of the miraculous is genuinely singular and hard to categorize. The setup is inventive and the tonal cocktail (dark comedy meets creature-feature meets family drama) is distinctive. Acting is competent and grounded, helping sell the absurdist premise without tipping into camp. Cinematography is serviceable genre work — functional but not distinctive. The plot holds together reasonably well through its satirical lens though it loses some coherence as it escalates. The ending is where the film stumbles most, failing to fully capitalize on its darkly comic potential and landing with less impact than the premise deserves.