Alex Scharfman makes his directorial and screenwriting debut in this Ari Aster produced film, set for release on March 28, starring Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd and Will Poulter.

The movie follows a father and daughter, Ridley (Jenna Ortega) and Elliot (Paul Rudd). The audience quickly learns that this father-daughter relationship is strained due to the loss of their wife and mother, as well as the questionable ethics of Elliot’s job and employer. Elliot works for a wealthy philanthropist named Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant).

The movie takes place during a trip Elliot and Ridley take to Odell’s home, where Elliot is expected to secure his role as Odell’s successor before the philanthropist’s impending death. Odell requests that Elliot bring his daughter so he can meet her and better understand Elliot’s family.

After driving through winding roads in the forest, Elliot hits a unicorn with his car. Ridley initially feels empathy and curiosity. She walks up to the Unicorn, grasping its horn, which transports her to what appears to be another world. Out of fear and confusion, Elliot strikes and kills the unicorn with a wrench.

Elliot loads the unicorn into the car and drives up to the Leopold mansion. The audience now meets Odell Leopold, his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni), and his son Shepard (Will Poulter).

The characters come to learn that the unicorn has magical healing powers. Elliot no longer needs glasses, Ridley no longer has acne and Odell is cured of his cancer.

Conflict starts when the Leopolds jump on the opportunity to harvest and sell unicorn dust, while Ridley questions the morality of their actions as it pertains to the unicorn itself.

Eventually, other unicorns find the humans, killing the entire Leopold family and their employees. However, during this murder spree, Ridley’s connection with the unicorns adds nuance to the philosophy of the creatures.

At the end of the movie, the audience comes to learn that the unicorns were acting in protection of their child and heroically bring Elliot, who had been stabbed by Shepard, back from the dead.

The movie’s central message is one of love. 

The Leopolds act purely in their own interests, showing little regard for the unicorns—or even other people. They see the healing power as an opportunity to be exploited and benefit themselves. Even within their own family, the Leopolds show limited amounts of love for one another.

Ridley seems to have a special connection with the unicorns because she shows and experiences something none of the other humans do in the action sequences with the unicorns: love.

Multiple times, Ridley recounts her vision after holding the unicorn’s horn, saying that she felt her late mother was with her. While being saved, Elliot had the same vision and feeling. The movie ends with Ridley and Elliot holding one another as the family of unicorns stand over them.

While the unicorns may have acted in ways that humans see as wrong, the Leopold family acted in the exact same way to the unicorns. When humans showed love and compassion to the unicorns, they got the same back.

Both the mother and father unicorns had beautiful moments in the conclusion of the movie as they lay their heads down on Ridley’s lap, understanding her feelings. This moment was a way that Ridley and the unicorns were able to communicate through the universal language of love. That moment compelled the unicorns to bring Elliot back from the dead.

“Death of a Unicorn” may be a well-edited, comedically-written, fun slasher, but underneath the surface lies a meaningful story encompassing the power and universality of love.