Death of a Unicorn
Payback is a beast.
Country
Production
Budget
$15 000 000
Box office
$16 423 464
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Tyler Campellone, Drew P. Houpt, Lars Knudsen, Alex Scharfman, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Lucas Joaquin, Theresa Page, Ari Aster, Paul Rudd
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Amy Williams
Audition
Avy Kaufman
Editing
Ron Dulin
Whole Team (69)
Whole Team (69)
Short description
A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
What's left behind the scenes
- While studying at college, director and screenwriter Alex Sharfman worked part-time at the Parts Labor Films studio, where he met producer Lars Knudsen. Knudsen and Ari Aster (an American director and screenwriter) subsequently founded the production company Square Peg. Working at the studio, Sharfman observed Robert Eggers working on his horror film “The Witch” (2015) and finishing the screenplay for the horror film “Nosferatu” (2024). He was deeply impressed by what he saw and decided to make a film based on an original screenplay rooted in ancient legends about unicorns.
- Preparing for filming, Alex Sharfman thoroughly studied myths about unicorns, starting with ancient Roman historians and the Old Testament. He also studied depictions of unicorns on tapestries from the collection of the Met Cloisters in New York. These tapestries, by an unknown master who lived on the cusp of the 16th century, served as the basis for the film’s visual style. Jenna Ortega, who played Ridley, even called them a starting point for understanding the film. According to Sharfman, one shot’s mise-en-scène, in which Odell, played by Richard E. Grant, leads Elliott (played by Paul Rudd) and other characters into the wilderness during a unicorn hunt, replicates a scene from one of the tapestries.
- While in college, director and screenwriter Alex Scharfman worked part-time at Parts Labor Films, where he met producer Lars Knudsen. Knudsen and Ari Aster (an American director and screenwriter) later founded the production company Square Peg. While working at the studio, Scharfman watched Robert Eggers work on his horror film 'The Witch' (2015) and finish the screenplay for the horror film 'Nosferatu' (2024). What he saw made a strong impression on Scharfman, and he decided to make a film based on a screenplay derived from ancient legends about unicorns.
- Preparing for the shoot, Alex Sharfman thoroughly studied unicorn myths, ranging from ancient Roman historians to the Old Testament. Additionally, he studied depictions of unicorns on tapestries from the collection of the Met Cloisters museum in New York. These tapestries, created by an unknown master living at the turn of the 16th century, served as the basis for the film's visual style. Jenna Ortega, who played Ridley, even called them the starting point for understanding the movie. According to Sharfman, one of the scenes—in which Odell, played by Richard E. Grant, leads Elliot (played by Paul Rudd) and other characters into the wilderness during a unicorn hunt—mirrors the plot of one such tapestry.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
