This has a label as a Comedy/Horror (at least on HBO MAX) and that seem to me a bit of a stretch. Is it Horror? Yes, but in a light way. Is it Comedy? In an even lighter way. Is it Fantasy? Yes, and in a deeper way. But Fantasy wasn’t a category I mentioned earlier. And why wasn’t it? It has Unicorn in the title! That firmly plants it in the fantasy genre. In my mind. For me this is a Fantasy with Horror elements.

Now that we got that out of the way, on with the show. Paul Rudd (Elliot) and Jenna Ortega (Ridley) headline this movie as a father and daughter duo, missing the matriarch who we learn died. Elliot and Ridley are heading to a remote home of the main employer for Elliot (an attorney) when disaster strikes. Well, not total disaster. They hit an animal while driving, but Elliot manages to keep the car from careening off the road. As they stop and look back to the animal, we see what they don’t acknowledge. It isn’t a random animal, it is a unicorn. Ridley touches the horn and has a trippy vision as it connects with her, but then dad starts whacking it on the head with some pipe he found in the back of the vehicle. They both get a little blood on them during this event, but we jump to them arriving at the home. And for some odd reason the dead unicorn is in the back of their vehicle! Who would hit an animal, beat it to death to put it out of its misery, and then load it in the car?

Weird.

The family is peculiar to say the least, the patriarch is dying, the matriarch is somewhat normal, the son feels like a dumb extra from the movie Idiocracy, and we have a servant (Griff) played by Anthony Carrigan (who I knew from Barry as NoHo Hank!) Both Elliot and Ridley notice side effects to where the blood hit them, as her acne clears up and his eyesight improves. 

The family decides they need to dissect and monetize the corpse of the creature. Ridley is horrified by all that is happening as she has empathy for the unicorn, but also has researched unicorns and found that they have a history of being brutal. So she is trying to caution everyone that they need to take care of the body and return it to nature. But with dollar signs flying, even her dad is seduced by the prospect of money. 

I won’t go into the majority of the movie. It was entertaining. A bit too dark to just be Fantasy (although Labyrinth is straight Fantasy and goblins steal a baby!) and a bit too uncoordinated to be Horror. And let’s be honest, the comedy aspect was primarily the idiot son who just wasn’t funny. The funniest part was really Griff, and most of that was non verbal. He is so great with facial expressions and body language. I loved him in this movie. 

SPOILER ALERT

In the wrap up of it all, there is a bit where it is obvious the parent unicorns are unhappy with the situation. Ridley understands and tries to get everyone else to get it. Her dad does. But then he tries to keep the severed horn. Why? He knows it is a bad idea. It is bad writing on this aspect. When we get to the wrap up of it all, there is a weird thing. A happy ending for all unicorns as they bring the dead young one back to life, and Elliot and Ridley are “fine.” But then cops show up and arrest them. As they are being taken away, the unicorns ambush the cop car and make it crash… fade to black… Presumably the unicorns are trying to free them, but why crash them? It just felt like a weird end. Would have been better if Griff, Elliot, and Ridley had just driven away. Ignore the real world aspect of needing police on the scene. 

END SPOILER ALERT

I really enjoyed this a lot more than I anticipated. There are some problems with it, but I was able to look past most of them. Let the movie breathe and just enjoy it for what it is, and my 8 star rating might make more sense to you then!