Details
Movie TitleDeath of a Unicorn
Release DateWorld premiere: March 8, 2025 at SXSW / U.S. theatrical release: March 28, 2025
TaglinePayback is a beast.
Runtime107 minutes
DirectorAlex Scharfman
Screenplay Written ByAlex Scharfman
Based OnOriginal screenplay
Is It a Remake?No. Death of a Unicorn is an original dark fantasy comedy-horror film.
BudgetApproximately $15 million
Box OfficeApprox. $12.9 million domestic / Approx. $16.4 million worldwide
Main Cast
Paul RuddElliot Kintner
Jenna OrtegaRidley Kintner
Will PoulterShepard Leopold
Téa LeoniBelinda Leopold
Richard E. GrantOdell Leopold
Anthony CarriganGriff
Sunita ManiDr. Bhatia
Jessica HynesShaw
Steve ParkDr. Song
David PasquesiPilot
Denise DelgadoRidley’s Mom
Kathryn ErbeTapestry Video Narrator
Awards
⭐ Golden Trailer Awards — Winner / Nominee recognition listed by IMDb for the film’s marketing campaign.
⭐ Sitges Film Festival Nominee — Best Feature Film.
⭐ SXSW 2025 — World Premiere selection.
⭐ The film’s recognition is primarily tied to festival play, genre-film attention, and A24’s marketing rather than major awards-season categories.
⭐ No Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, or Saturn Award nominations were verified for the film.
Short Plot Summary
Elliot Kintner and his teenage daughter Ridley are heading to a weekend retreat at the remote estate of Elliot’s billionaire boss, Odell Leopold, when they accidentally hit a unicorn with their car. After discovering the creature’s blood and horn have miraculous healing properties, the Leopolds see a business opportunity instead of a moral problem. But the dead unicorn is not alone, and once its furious parents come looking for revenge, the estate becomes a savage battleground of corporate greed, family tension, monster-movie carnage, and very sharp magical payback.
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Key Quotes
“This is not the best use of time!” — Griff
“Payback is a beast.” — Tagline
“A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn.” — Official synopsis setup
“His billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.” — Official synopsis setup
“They’re going to make a killing.” — Promotional tagline
“It’s a unicorn.” — Trailer setup
Trivia
Director
- Death of a Unicorn was written and directed by Alex Scharfman.
- The film marks Scharfman’s feature directorial debut.
- Scharfman blends dark comedy, fantasy, horror, creature-feature violence, and class satire into one A24-style monster movie.
- The premise turns the unicorn — usually a symbol of purity, innocence, and magic — into a revenge-horror creature with a body count.
- The movie’s satire focuses on corporate greed, pharmaceutical exploitation, wealthy entitlement, and the danger of trying to monetize something sacred.
Cast / Casting
- Paul Rudd stars as Elliot Kintner, a lawyer trying to impress his wealthy employer while dragging his daughter into the worst work weekend imaginable.
- Jenna Ortega plays Ridley Kintner, Elliot’s daughter, whose connection to the unicorn gives the story its emotional and mythic center.
- Richard E. Grant plays Odell Leopold, the billionaire boss who sees miracle blood and immediately starts thinking about profit margins.
- Téa Leoni plays Belinda Leopold, while Will Poulter plays Shepard Leopold, rounding out the wealthy family at the center of the chaos.
- Anthony Carrigan plays Griff, whose grandfather-clock quote became one of the film’s most memorable IMDb-listed lines.
- Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes, and Steve Park play members of the Leopold orbit and research operation.
Soundtrack / Score
- The score was composed by Dan Romer and Giosuè Greco.
- The original soundtrack album was released by A24 Music in March 2025.
- Earlier reports connected John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies to the score, but Dan Romer and Giosuè Greco were later revealed as the film’s credited composers.
- The soundtrack includes dark fantasy textures, creature-feature tension, and off-kilter comedy-horror energy.
- St. Vincent released the song “DOA” from the film’s soundtrack.
- The official trailer used a rendition of The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” creating a very cheery backdrop for unicorn carnage.
Location
- The story is set around a remote billionaire estate in the Canadian Rockies.
- IMDb lists Hungary as a filming location.
- Production reports noted that the movie filmed in and around Budapest, Hungary.
- The European locations help create the film’s secluded estate, wilderness, and dark-fantasy atmosphere.
- The estate setting functions as both a wealthy retreat and a monster-movie trap once the adult unicorns arrive.
Behind-The-Scenes
- The film was produced by A24, Ley Line Entertainment, Square Peg, Secret Engine, Monoceros Media, and The Royal Budapest Film Co.
- A24 released the film theatrically in North America on March 28, 2025.
- The movie had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2025.
- The production budget is listed at approximately $15 million.
- Box Office Mojo lists the opening weekend at $5,787,425 from 3,050 theaters.
- The film grossed approximately $12.9 million domestically and $16.4 million worldwide.
Nostalgia
- Death of a Unicorn fits into the modern A24 creature-feature lane: weird premise, dark humor, genre violence, and social satire.
- The movie plays with the contrast between childhood fantasy imagery and adult horror-movie consequences.
- For viewers raised on gentle unicorn mythology, the film turns the “magical horse” idea into something closer to a vengeful cryptid.
- The combination of Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, and a killer unicorn helped make the movie instantly meme-friendly before release.
- The film’s appeal is less classic fairy tale and more “what if capitalism found a unicorn and immediately made everything worse?”
Easter Eggs
- The film references unicorn mythology through tapestries, purity symbolism, magical healing, and the idea that humans misunderstand sacred creatures.
- The Unicorn Tapestries become a key visual and mythological reference point inside the story.
- Ridley’s visions connect the unicorns to a larger cosmic mythology rather than treating them as ordinary animals.
- The “pure-hearted maiden” element twists traditional unicorn folklore into a darkly comic survival advantage.
- The closing-credit tapestry-style imagery folds the film’s events back into myth, suggesting this bloodbath may become its own legend.
Misc.
- Death of a Unicorn is rated R.
- Box Office Mojo classifies the film under comedy, fantasy, and horror.
- Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the plot as a father and daughter accidentally killing a unicorn while traveling to a weekend retreat where a billionaire boss wants to exploit its curative properties.
- The film became available to stream on HBO Max beginning July 25, 2025.
- Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists the episode as Episode 228, with Don rating it 3.75, Ken rating it 1.50, Jon rating it 3.00, and an overall rating of 2.75.
Sources Cited
3 Guys and a Flick — Podcast 228: Death of a Unicorn
3 Guys and a Flick — Ratings
A24 — Death of a Unicorn
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Full Cast & Crew
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Awards
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Quotes
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Taglines
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Soundtrack
IMDb — Death of a Unicorn Filming Locations
Box Office Mojo — Death of a Unicorn
The Numbers — Death of a Unicorn
Rotten Tomatoes — Death of a Unicorn
SXSW — Death of a Unicorn
Apple Music — Death of a Unicorn Soundtrack
Wikipedia — Death of a Unicorn
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