Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega’s quirky new A24 monster movie Death of a Unicorn has earned a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Rudd and Ortega play a father and daughter who accidentally hit and kill a unicorn on the way to a crisis management summit held by the dad’s boss, played by Richard E. Grant. When his boss tries to exploit the creature’s magical abilities, its grieving parents show up to exact revenge.

The story deals with universal themes of parental protectiveness and humans exploiting nature, but tackles them in the most bizarre way imaginable. This movie is a really big swing, so it seemed like it would either work spectacularly and become a new classic or fail miserably and be instantly forgotten about. But based on the Rotten Tomatoes score, it seems to be somewhere in the middle. So, why are Death of a Unicorn’s reviews so mixed?

Death Of A Unicorn Has A 57% Score On Rotten Tomatoes – Why It’s So Low

It’s Much Too Weird For Universal Acclaim

The reviews are in and Death of a Unicorn has landed an unenviable Rotten Tomatoes score of 57%. This is technically on the “rotten” side of the Rotten Tomatoes spectrum, earning it a splatty green tomato logo as opposed to a nice, ripe red one, but it’s only 3% below the threshold. Death of a Unicorn’s Rotten Tomatoes score doesn’t indicate a negative reception; it indicates a mixed response. Plenty of critics have given it a negative review, but plenty have given it a positive review.

Death of a Unicorn is much too strange to have mainstream appeal; it’s either your cup of tea or it isn’t, hence the mixed reviews. The critical consensus seems to be that its messaging is a little too vague to really land as the allegorical satire it sets out to be. It’s an ambitious metaphor for humanity’s mistreatment of the natural world, but it gets too swept up in its plotty elements to have anything substantial to say. Still, messaging aside, it’s an agreeably gruesome creature feature led by stellar performances from an all-star cast.

Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, & Death Of A Unicorn’s Cast Are Still Widely Praised

The Actors Are All Great As Usual

Even critics who didn’t like the movie seem to agree that the cast of Death of a Unicorn is full of great actors giving typically great performances. Rudd and Ortega share likable on-screen chemistry as a father and daughter, and the supporting cast is rounded out by scene-stealers like Grant, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Barry’s Anthony Carrigan. Death of a Unicorn might not work particularly well as an allegory, but thanks to its star-studded cast, it does work as a straightforward horror comedy.