A24’s New Horror Comedy Is Already Showing It Can Be 2025’s Biggest Sleeper Hit

A24 may have already secured the sleeper hit of 2025 if the trailer for Death of a Unicorn is anything to go by. A24 has been on a real hot streak of producing movies that hit the sweet spot between arthouse and mainstream. From Hereditary to Civil War or Everything Everywhere All at Once, they’ve been responsible for some of the most unique genre outings of the last decade. The trailer for Death of a Unicorn makes a good case that it might be added to the list of A24’s best movies.

The premise sees a father and daughter (played by Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, respectively) accidentally running over a unicorn, whose body is then taken and examined by a pharmaceutical company. While the premise may sound like a kid’s adventure film, Death of a Unicorn’s trailer reveals it to be a gory horror comedy, where the unicorn’s parent soon comes to seek revenge. The film will also feature a score by none other than horror icon John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing).

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The Premise Of Death Of A Unicorn Is Wild & Inventive

Death of a Unicorn can’t be accused of being generic

A24 has a knack for taking on concepts that might sound ludicrous on paper and spinning them into gold. A killer unicorn movie sounds like the stuff of The Asylum or Syfy, but Death of a Unicorn is instead a creature feature with spiky dialogue and a great hook. When the unicorn’s horn is discovered to have cancer-curing properties, this makes the creature of great interest to Will Poulter’s pharmaceutical CEO. This is obviously a gamechanger for humanity – but it’s clear the goals of Poulter’s character aren’t exactly altruistic.

Death of a Unicorn isn’t aiming to be truly scary (though certain shots of the unicorn monsters are surprisingly menacing) but is instead a horror satire with a message. A rich family trying to exploit an innocent animal for their own gain isn’t the most subtle subtext, but it means audiences will have a fun time watching them getting eaten and skewed by the vengeful unicorns in the final act.

Death Of A Unicorn’s Cast Is Perfect

Death of a Unicorn breaks Tea Leoni’s long movie hiatus

Another great sign for Death of a Unicorn is the cast it assembled. This suggests the screenplay must be something special because in addition to Rudd and Ortega – who is coming in hot off the success of Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice – the supporting cast includes Richard E. Grant, Barry’s Anthony Carrigan and Jessica Hynes. Death of a Unicorn will also mark Tea Leoni’s first movie in 14 years, with her last credit being 2011 action comedy Tower Heist.

Given the critical and commercial success that has greeted much of A24’s output, it’s little surprise they can attract such an impressive ensemble. While there’s nothing wrong with the occasional trashy monster movie, it’s doubtful Death of a Unicorn would have pulled in such a starry line-up unless there was more substance to the project. That said, while it looks like a blast, there’s always a chance its central hook might actually turn viewers off.

After all, everybody thought Snakes on a Plane was going to be a runaway hit based on its title and premise alone – only for the 2006 film to do average business. The involvement of A24 and the cast should mean this Jenna Ortega horror movie avoids that fate, and there’s a decent chance it could become the shock horror hit of 2025.

A24 Has A Great Track Record For Balancing Weird, Dark Comedy & Horror

There is something for every mood in A24’s library

A24 has never scored a hit on the level of Marvel – but they’re not aiming for that either. Their biggest hit Everything Everywhere All at Once scored $143 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), in addition to a host of Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh. Everything Everywhere… is a weird but delightful mashup of many genres and feels like a mission statement for A24 as a production company. They’ve backed emotional dramas (Lady Bird, Moonlight), nightmarish horror (Talk to Me, Midsommar) and almost unclassifiable films (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Under the Skin).

Like any production company, A24 has made its share of duds too, be it False Positive or 2018’s Slice. Even then, they have an unbelievably high batting average, and even movies that don’t fully work (like Alex Garland’s Men) at the very least have creative concepts and imagery behind them. Hopefully, Death of a Unicorn will live up to those high standards, because with such a solid premise, an amazing ensemble and a John Carpenter soundtrack, there is no reason whatsoever it shouldn’t be a blast.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Death of a Unicorn, directed by Alex Scharfman, follows Elliot and his daughter Riley as they accidentally kill a unicorn while traveling to a work retreat. Elliot’s billionaire boss aims to exploit the unicorn’s curative properties, leading to unexpected consequences.

Cast

Jenny Ortega
, Paul Rudd
, Will Poulter
, Tea Leoni
, Richard E. Grant
, Anthony Carrigan
, Sunita Mani
, Jessica Hynes
, Steve Park
, Nicholas Wittman
, Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan
, Christine Grace Szarkó

Character(s)

Ridley
, Elliot

Director

Alex Scharfman

Writers

Alex Scharfman

Release Window

Spring 2025

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