Alex Scharfman, the director of A24’s upcoming movie Death of a Unicorn, explains how the film avoids a very common horror trope. The story of Death of a Unicorn follows Elliot and Ridley, a father and daughter, who hit a unicorn on their way to Elliot’s boss’s secluded cabin. While they are shocked, Elliot’s boss is eager to use the unicorn’s powers to make medical breakthroughs. The cast of the movie includes Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Richard E. Grant, Will Poulter, Tea Leoni, and Anthony Carrigan.

In an interview with Screen Rant‘s Grant Hermanns, Scharfman points out that in a lot of horror movies, there’s a character that has encountered the monster before. The director explains that he wanted to avoid this trope with Death of a Unicorn. Therefore, the upcoming A24 horror/comedy movie will be even more chaotic because no one knows how to deal with unicorns when they start being hunted by the entire pack. Read Scharfman’s full comments below:

It’s tricky, because in so many monster movies, there’s one character who’s encountered the monster before, and they know all about it, and they’re going to tell everybody. I didn’t want to have that, because it ran counter to the very fundamental nature of the movie. No one knows what they’re dealing with. They’re dealing with something unknown to all of mankind, not just to them.

It’d be weird for one person to be like, “Actually, I’ve met this unicorn before, and let me tell you about what their deal is.” So, I think it became a question of how much is enough, how much is too much. And that was something we were certainly calibrating throughout the edit, and also, making sure it kind of led you into the genre of the movie.

What Scharfman’s Comments Mean For Death Of A Unicorn

Death Of A Unicorn Will Be An Action-Packed Horror Movie

The trailer for Death of a Unicorn sets up that Elliot and Ridley will be shocked by the situation they have ended up in, while the other characters simply want to profit off their discovery. In the trailer, Grant’s character suggests that the unicorn’s powers could lead to immortality, and Poulter’s character claims they have a “moral imperative” to harvest the powers of the unicorns. Based on the trailer, it is likely that Grant and Poulter’s characters, along with many others, will die during Death of a Unicorn.

The trailer for the upcoming A24 horror movie doesn’t reveal exactly how many unicorns the characters in the film are being hunted by. However, Elliot and Ridley’s trip to the cabin will quickly turn into a horrifying experience as the pack of unicorns seek revenge for the death of the foal. As Scharfman states, since nobody in the movie knows how to deal with unicorns, Death of a Unicorn will be an action-packed horror/comedy movie.

Our Take On Alex Scharfman’s Comments About Death Of A Unicorn

The Unicorns In Death Of A Unicorn Will Be Terrifying

Scharfman’s upcoming movie hasn’t been received as well as some other A24 films. Reviews for Death of a Unicorn have been quite mixed, but Screen Rant‘s own Mae Abdulbaki gave the movie a respectable score of 7 out of 10. Even though all the reviews haven’t been fantastic, I’m still very excited to experience the chaos that will ensue in Death of a Unicorn. Scharfman clearly thought a lot about how to handle the unicorns in the film, so I am excited to see how the characters react to their shocking circumstances in Death of a Unicorn.