A mythical creature, a desperate billionaire, and a deadly pursuit of power—A24’s “Death of a Unicorn” delivers a twisted blend of horror and dark comedy that shocked audiences at its early screening in Tempe on March 20.

“Death of a Unicorn” stars Paul Rudd, Elliot Kintler, and Jenna Ortega, Ridley Kintler, a father-daughter duo on a road trip to a retreat in the Rockies. Directed by Alex Scharfman, this film turns a beautiful, majestic creature into a horrifying, vengeful beast.

Things take a dark turn as Elliot gets distracted while driving and hits a unicorn. Ridley approaches the injured unicorn and touches its horn, leading her into a seizure-like trance foreseeing vibrant colors and shapes. Elliot decides it’s best to put the unicorn out of its misery and take it with them to bury it.

The duo continues with their trip to see billionaire Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant) in pursuit of becoming partners with his pharmaceutical company. With Odell is his wife Belinda (Téa Leoni) and his son Shepard (Will Poulter).

Soon, both Elliot and Ridley realize that the purple blood splattered from the unicorn had unique abilities, curing Elliot’s vision and Ridley’s acne.

Once the Leopold family notices the unicorn, they quickly utilize it and test its blood on Odell, curing him of his cancer. However, the unicorn isn’t completely dead and its family is out for revenge.

Taking inspiration from “Jurassic Park”, this film has a classic take on the consequences of manipulating nature for mankind.

Once Ridley notices the dangers of the Leopold family’s manipulation for profit, she researches unicorns. She quickly discovers that throughout history, unicorns have been admired and feared. Once a unicorn family is threatened, they will not stop until vengeance is served.

The film is a combination of dark comedy and horror. The dialogue performances, such as Shepard stating, “I don’t think I should be in swim shorts for this moment”, deliver a realistic sense of how rapacious people can be in a humorous manner.

As the Leopold family continues to exploit the unicorn to obtain its magical powers, Ridley attempts to persuade them to return the baby unicorn to its parents. Of course, they blow her off, leading to the climax of the film – the kills.

Being an R-rated film, the gruesome death scenes were certainly a highlighted part of the final act. Ranging from magical horns piercing through bodies to characters being thrown around like ragdolls, these scenes are sure to shock the audience.

The Leopold family attempts to kill the adult unicorns, leading to more bloodshed. Ridley knows that the unicorn parents simply want their child, but after Shepard demands the baby unicorn’s horn to be cut off, the unicorn’s parents wreak havoc on the Leopolds.

The final minutes of the film reveal the absolute destruction caused by the unicorns, destroying Leopold's family mansion. After stealing and snorting unicorn dust, Shepard learns that the unicorns need a pure maiden to leave them alone. Attempting to use Ridley as bait, Shepard ties the unicorn's legs together but gets stabbed by Elliot. Shepard stabs Elliot back, but the unicorn gets freed and kicks Shepard, killing him.

 As Elliot slowly dies in Ridley’s arms, the adult unicorns put their horns together, reviving Elliot and their baby unicorn. The film ends with Elliot and Ridley in the back of a police car, presumably driving back to the city. However, they aren’t alone – the unicorns appear once again and run with the car. Elliot and Ridley prepare themselves as the unicorns run the car off the road.

“Death of a Unicorn” displays how mankind has limits in what can and cannot be achieved. Some things are simply meant to be as Mother Nature intended. Not everything is meant to be discovered, especially if it’s misunderstood. If unicorns do exist, it’s best to let them be.