Unicorn Store

Unicorn Store – Kit’s dreams are crushed. Having flunked from art school she is listless. It seems no-one appreciates her love for colour and glitter. But after landing a temp job in an office she receives a mysterious invitation to ‘The Store’, where a idiosyncratic ‘salesman’ promises her what she has always wanted: her very own unicorn. First she must prove herself worthy, but do such creatures really exist? Is the store all in her head? And what exactly do unicorns eat, anyway?

Unicorn Store (2017) – Director: Brie Larson

Rating: 12

Running Length: 92 mins

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘UNICORN STORE’

Before Captain Marvel, Brie Larson was busy starring in Unicorn Store, which also marked her directorial debut. Kit (Larson) has spent a childhood loving all things glitter and rainbows, so art school seemed like the best way to live her passions. Unfortunately, everyone else sees her as childish and immature, so when she flunks out she is left directionless, until the promise of her own real life unicorn from a mysterious ‘store’ comes up.

Unicorn Store is a movie that trades on few characters but great performances. Samuel L. Jackson as ‘the salesman’ is a weird mix of day-glo purples and shiny streamers in the hair, all whilst straight faced describing the dos and don’t of unicorn ownership. Kit’s mother (Joan Cusack) worries about Kit’s eccentric ways, and her overly sincere efforts to help go awry. Even the office that Kit ends up working at has a few oddballs traipsing the halls.

The whole movie plays as ever so slightly ‘hyper-real’. Characters are just a bit over the top and the comedy flows from off kilter dialogue that lights up the screen. There is a little bit of Tim Burton style surburbia satire, but through a multi-coloured spectrum. Kit may be childish in one sense, but never to the point of annoying you. You want her to get that unicorn just as much as she does. And when she presents a sparkles and glitter pitch for otherwise dull vacuum cleaners at her PR job this can’t help but raise a smile. Especially good is hardware store employee Virgil (Mamoudou Athie). Tasked with building her a unicorn stable (although he doesn’t know that) he is constantly perplexed by her, which makes their relationship a nugget of normality so things don’t get too whimsical (although the whimsy is perfectly balanced here!)

Larson is fantastic. She achieves an almost nostalgic sweet quality, like bathing in your childhood. without being sickly. Kit’s immaturity is acknowledged so that she isn’t just a pixie wish fulfilment character, but the movie still sweeps you up in her enthusiasm. If Unicorn Store is anything to go by, Brie Larson’s directorial career is definitely going to be one to watch.

CONTENT: IS ‘UNICORN STORE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Kit is sat with her parents and unhappy at their well-meaning but unending advice. She drinks a whole glass of wine in one go.

EPILEPSY WARNING – When Kit enters The Store for the first time there is a small amount of flashing lights. This lasts around 5 seconds.

While talking to ‘the salesman’ the word ‘shit’ is used a few times.

When Kit talks to some young people at a camping retreat with her parents, one of these says that her own parents are dead. However, she quickly sniggers and says she is only joking.

Kit, confused at the slightly inappropriate behaviour of her boss, asks someone else, ‘Am I pretty enough to be sexually harassed?’

During a ‘truth circle’ one teen complains that just because he likes to draw pictures of knives it “Doesn’t mean i’m going to do anything to my algebra teacher.”

One character questions why Kit trusts ‘the salesman’ and argues that she must have been scammed. This does underline an issue about trusting odd strangers.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘UNICORN STORE’ FOR KIDS?

As enjoyable as Unicorn Store is, the movie is not pitched for children. The whimsical appeal is focused around an adult who is struggling to fit into an adult world. The movie could easily have been a ‘U’ rating if not for a smattering of seemingly unnecessary bad language (hence why we struggled to find any unsuitable content scenes!). But even with a (mostly) child friendly rating, it is likely that most children will be bored by Unicorn Store. Due to the occasional swearing we would recommend Unicorn Store as suitable for ages 9 and up, but in terms of actual enjoyment of the movie we suspect the age is more 11 – 12.

• Violence: 0/5
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (some minor family arguing and general depression)
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (some minor inappropriate behaviour from the vice president of the company Kit works for. He smells her hair at one point and wonders as to her shampoo. However, he seems more odd than having any untoward interest towards Kit)
• Bad Language: 2/5 (infrequent usage of ‘shit’ and other derivatives of the word)
• Dialogue 0/5
• Other Notes deals with themes of not growing up, embracing who you are, not conforming to expectations, indulging in dreams, coming to terms with reality, the unfairness of the workplace, and whether or not to trust strangers. Also contains turning to alcohol when uncomfortable with surroundings.

Words by Mike Record