Producer Alex Scharfman is making his feature directorial debut with A24’s Death of a Unicorn, a film that he also wrote.
The story is surreal, more than a little bonkers, and has some satirical undertones. Here’s the premise:
A father (Paul Rudd) and daughter (Jenna Ortega) accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss (Richard E. Grant) seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
In addition to Rudd, Ortega, and Grant, the movie stars Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and at least two unicorns.
But that’s not all folks. As the trailer released today reveals, that dead unicorn—whose horn cures cancer (“that’s the biggest one!”)—has a presumed parent that is intent on murdering those who killed its loved one. That twist, if the trailer is any indication, veers the film into horror comedy territory, though I have a feeling this may be a mashup of several subgenres, perhaps in the vein of Cocaine Bear.
Will it all come together into a cohesive, eye-opening story? Will that murder unicorn succeed in gouging every human in the film to death? We’ll have to wait until next year to find out.
Death of a Unicorn premieres sometime in Spring 2025.
Check out the trailer below.
