Unicorn Store (2019)

Directed by Brie Larson. Starring Brie Larson, Mamoudou Athie, Joan Cusack, Bradley Whitford, Samuel L. Jackson, Hamish Linkater, Karan Soni, Martha MacIsaac, Annaleigh Ashford.

Peculiar but very earnest comic fantasy shows artist/dreamer Kit (Larson) fitting her square peg into the round hole of slate grey “maturity” by joining the corporate world as a temp employee, but she’s encouraged to not give up on her perception of happiness when she receives a mysterious invitation to a place known simply as “The Store,” which promises to fulfill her childhood wish of owning a unicorn. The wild-eyed wonder of the premise fails to receive a go-for-broke treatment; instead, the film sinks beneath the weight of incoherence, atonality, and forced flamboyance. The secondhand Michel Gondry art-kit fantasia style is a tough one to pull off, and although first-time director Larson deserves credit for aspiration, she struggles to create an involving narrative out of so many cardboard characterizations and crises. Consider the confetti-filled Mystic Vac presentation, which should have been hysterical, but is instead just awkwardly mannered and perfunctory (it’s easier to side with the conservative suits in that scenario than the creative free spirits, which surely was not the intention). Written by Samantha McIntyre. Debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival almost two years prior to its release.

36/100