Movie · 2025 · Horror, Fantasy, Comedy · 1h 47m · R · English
Curator score: 1.1/10 (404K ratings)
Payback is a beast.
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.1/10
IMDb: 5.8/10
Letterboxd: 2.68/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Alex Scharfman
Production
A24, Square Peg, Secret Engine, Ley Line Entertainment, Monoceros Media
Cast
Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, Sunita Mani, Steve Park, Anthony Carrigan, Jessica Hynes, David Pasquesi, Denise Delgado, Kathryn Erbe, Nicholas Wittman, Max Draskoczi, Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan, Christine Grace Szarkó, Tasha Lawrence
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, high-concept creature comedy with a sharp anti-rich streak, but the satire is broader than deep and the tonal mix doesn’t fully land for everyone. If you want a goofy, violent fantasy-horror with star power and a few big laughs, it’s worth a look; if you need tighter writing or richer emotional stakes, it may feel thin.
Best for
Viewers who enjoy horror-comedy with absurd premises
Fans of eat-the-rich satire
People looking for a playful creature feature
Audiences who like glossy studio genre mashups
Skip if
You want horror with real dread or intensity
You prefer satire that digs deeper than its premise
You’re allergic to broad comedy and quippy dialogue
You want a consistently balanced tone
Overview
Death of a Unicorn is built on a wonderfully silly premise and mostly knows exactly what kind of movie it is. The setup gives it an easy engine: a magical creature, a privileged family retreat, and a billionaire whose greed turns wonder into commodity. That makes for a breezy, nasty little genre toy with enough invention to keep it moving, even when the jokes are blunt and the social commentary is obvious.
Worth noting
The movie’s biggest appeal is the collision of tones: fairy-tale imagery, creature-feature violence, and a very modern contempt for wealth. When it leans into the absurdity, it’s fun; when it pauses to explain itself, the spell weakens. The cast helps a lot, especially in keeping the material light on its feet, but the script doesn’t always give them enough nuance to elevate the satire.
Bottom line
As a crowd-pleasing oddity, it works better than as a fully satisfying horror-comedy. It’s the kind of film you watch for the premise, the kills, and the smug pleasure of watching the powerful get punished. If that’s enough, it delivers. If you’re hoping for something sharper or stranger, it may leave you wanting more.
Top Letterboxd reviews
jer ☘️ (4★) · 9270 likes
killing rich people gotta be one of the best genres ever
justinwuah (2.5★) · 6917 likes
they are really gonna typecast jenna ortega as a teenager up until her 30s
Rendy Jones (3★) · 6363 likes
I really want to do a line of the unicoke tho.
George Carmi (3.5★) · 6210 likes
we need more unicorn movies. they're too cool. untapped lore. this was so fun and so funny and i had a very good time with it. will poulters comedic timing needs to be studied.
moviemattk ✌🏻 (4★) · 5360 likes
Letterboxd users: “capitalism and the rich bad!”
Absurdist comedy-horror unicorn movie: “yes, capitalism and the rich bad!”
Letterboxd users logging the movie: “wtf very obvious themes, I didn’t feel intellectually challenged by the silly unicorn horror movie 😡”
Full review from SXSW..