"Death Of A Unicorn" stars Paul Rudd ("Ant Man") and Jenna Ortega ("Wednesday") in a new dark fantasy movie from A24 and director Alex Scharfman ("House of Spoils").

The film follows a father and a daughter, Elliot and Ripley, recouping from a great loss in their family. While driving on a scenic highway to meet Elliot's boss, they accidentally strike a unicorn with their car and are forced to put it out of its misery.

After bringing the body with them and admitting to their mistake, Elliot's employer, Odell, played by Richard E. Grant ("Saltburn"), requests to experiment on the creature and harness its magical gifts. Soon after, Ridley notices a strange anomaly in the sky and realizes that the unicorn they killed may not be the only one out there.

I was very hesitant about seeing this movie as it just seemed silly. Reviews for this feature were also more mixed than a bag of trail nuts, but I decided to take a chance watching it, and I'm pleasantly surprised with what I saw!

First, this film is doing poorly because of it's incredible misfire of marketing. "Death Of A Unicorn" is branded as a horror movie, when in reality it's a modern day dark fantasy. The movie isn't scary in the slightest.

It presents itself as a concept of "Jurassic Park" with unicorns. The unicorns themselves are portrayed as misunderstood creatures rather than natural threats, mostly because of Ridley's belief in the impossible and supernatural. Throughout the movie, she is seen doing research and is the 'Chekhov's Gun' of the film.

Rudd and Ortega are both fantastic as the father-daughter duo as they both act well and have great chemistry. Will Poulter ("We're The Millers") plays Odell's rich, arrogant son. He and Odell serve as the antagonists for the film and they are both really fun to watch.

The unicorns looked great too. The CGI is impressive but you can tell they put the budget into creating them as the rest of the movie looks very fake and plastic-like. The sets are great though, as the mansion that Odell owns is impressive and fantasy-inspired.

Even if I don't consider this a horror movie, there are some extreme kills and they get super creative with how dangerous a unicorn can actually be. The death involving the mom made my stomach churn, while another death, that I won't spoil, made me laugh out loud as it was unexpected but also deserved because of how horrible the character is.

As far as negatives go, the plot is very dull and boring. I knew even from the trailers what kind of movie it was going to be and my suspicions were confirmed upon seeing it. This movie takes stabs at the luxury lifestyle and how ridiculous people can become when given an irresponsible amount of power. It's the age old story of Greed vs Purity and why some things are better left alone.

The jokes are alright but it thankfully doesn't taint the good plot of the father-daughter duo. I also didn't like how they maimed the unicorn. It felt overly cruel when the audience already understands the representations of Odell's family. I personally thought it was in poor taste.

Overall, this movie was a solid return for dark-fantasy and makes for a decent comedy movie. "Death Of A Unicorn" is a good time at theaters and I would rank it at a solid 8/10.

Carter Salley is Central Michigan Life's resident film reviewer and co-host of the popculture podcast "Raving Geeks." He is majoring in media arts.