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Death of a Unicorn Is 5 Pounds of Purple Poop In a 10-Pound Bag


Fantasy-creature gore may be a funny spectacle, but it’s not enough to hang a whole movie on.

Patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant) is relentlessly imperious despite his terminal cancer, while his wife, Belinda (Téa Leoni), is consumed with using their charitable foundation to launder their reputation, and their only child, Shepard (Will Poulter), is your standard failson with substance-abuse issues. The terrific cast, which also includes Barry ’s Anthony Carrigan and Spaced ’s Jessica Hynes as the long-suffering house staff, and Sunita Mani and Steve Park as scientists summoned to examine the unicorn, is good enough to sustain the movie’s momentum for longer than it merits. The sight of Grant ghoulishly slicing into a unicorn steak still swimming in purple blood isn’t one I’ll soon forget, but so much of the rest of the film relies on variations of the same punchline, and it doesn’t feel especially edgy by the third or fourth time.

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