"After failing out of art school and taking a humdrum office job, a whimsical painter gets a chance to fulfil her lifelong dream of adopting a unicorn."
Supposedly Brie Larson had auditioned for the lead role 7 years ago but didn't get the role. That iteration of the film never got made, and after her successful role in Room she was finally asked to join the project as director in 2016 simultaneously taking on the lead role, completing the film in 2017, and finally, Unicorn Store was released on Netflix in 2019. Such difficulties in production, delays in release, and heading straight to Netflix (no offense, Netflix) raises a lot of red flags.
Nonetheless, with Brie Larson's role in Captain Marvel being...not horrible, I was intrigued enough to see what her directorial debut would be like
And yet again, "not horrible" is the first thought that comes to mind. Mediocre. Average, but to be fair, it is on the higher fringes of average. In what is clearly an Indie film with quite a few big recognisable faces involved (Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, Joan Cusack, and Hamish Linklater), Unicorn Store provides a simple premise that acts as a not-so-subtle metaphor for not giving up on your dreams.
Based in a minor dystopic setting we are presented with two types of people. Those in regular society that are seen to have given up on their dreams and succumbed to mediocrity, and those that still hold the spark of creativity and wonder, and aspire for something more. Larson's character, Kit, is in the latter and is fighting against the former group's attempts to assimilate her. It tries to convey a nice message, but quite frequently is in-your-face about it, and otherwise inconsistent.
A slow, meandering comedy, much of the comedic elements are dry and sarcastic, heavily contrasting Kit's more whimsical, fantastical quirks, which themselves are overshadowed by the salesman character portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. The balance between the serious and light-hearted elements causes the pacing to drag and leaves the tone of the film feeling inconsistent. There were certain arcs in the film that would have worked really well without the final scenes, allowing the audience to come up with their own conclusions, but everything is spelt out leaving no room for mystery in this unicorn-based film.
Larson does well sitting in two chairs at once, and the film has good direction, and her lead role does show some good emotional qualities. While she is still often blank in the facial expressions, there are a couple of scenes that do come across endearing, and potentially tear-inducing. Samuel L. Jackson is imbibing that crazy, over-enthused, mischievous character that he loves (think Mr. Glass from Unbreakable, if he could walk) but he provides most of the light and energy in the film, that is otherwise monotonous.
The strength of the film comes from the relatability in its themes and events, such as dealing with the soul-crushing realities of life, parents that are never content with your achievements. It's these grounded ideas that hold the most power, which is why the stand-out character is Virgil (a supporting character played by Mamoudou Athie); his character is the "normal" one. Neither abysmally boring nor the overly colourful main character, Virgil is the everyman or woman.
Unicorn Store is okay. It's not something that I would recommend you rush to see, but it's not something I would explicitly recommend against seeing either. It just struggles to balance the tone of the film which would bring a higher comedic value. From a metaphorical standpoint, the film brings an important message to not give up on your dreams, but also that it's okay for dreams to change, and that there are other important factors that need to be in place to achieve your dreams. It's very blunt about it, but the message is there regardless.