Unicorn Store

It's a quirky and fun movie, and the vacuum presentation was probably the funniest part. It's kind of a weird movie about a girl dealing with real world problems in an unbelievably ridiculous way. Great performances, but very little substance to the story line. Very cool set designs and costuming.

Immersed in a magical realm of glitter, rainbows and unicorns, Kit radiates happiness and positive energy to the outside world. Yet darkness begins to creep into her life. Kit is rejected from art school, cannot find a job or mate, and is subjected to constant needling from parents who are encouraging her to leave the nest. In the face of such pressure, feeling unappreciated and losing faith in her dreams and artistic abilities, Kit displays uncharacteristic behavior. She slips on a bleak business suit and obtains a job at a soul snuffing ad agency with a creepy boss. This is when mysterious invitations arrive at Kit's desk luring her into believing in unicorns again. Friends and family consider an intervention as Kit responds to the invitations, begins building a stable worthy of a unicorn and prepares to smother her unicorn with love.

Brie Larson directs the film and stars as Kit, a creative woman with a fierce desire to be seen for who she truly is. This delightful, quirky and charming film sparkles with feminine energy and pastel colors. Even Samuel Jackson, with a supporting role, is part of the magic and glow. As wonderful as the story is, it needs a little more sophistication and depth, and less straightforwardness. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I'm probably not the target market for this film, maybe it resonates better with younger or female audiences. I did watch the whole thing so it wasn't horrible, I did want to see how it ended.

It's a story about a young woman trying to figure out life and her place in it and how to relate to her family and friends and humanity in general. She seems to gain some insight through her journey. There is a bit of magical realism done in a somewhat clever manner that adds to the allegorical feel.

I did other things while watching it and found it to be okay entertainment to pass the time.

Unicorn store is a magnificent modern tale like The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939) was in its time, a metaphoric movie to be apprehended at the second degree. As a child, Kit radiates happiness until gradually becoming a young hardly-happy adult. She's single, unemployed, glued to the sofa in front of the TV all day, able to drink a full glass of wine at one gulp without even realizing it, ... until an unusual salesman from an unusual store disrupts her life. This film deals mainly with stereotypes, conformism and the difficulty of leaving a childhood filled with dreams, to join a world of adults devoid of joy or benevolence.

Growing old does not necessarily mean growing up...

Unicorn store is the first movie directed by Brie Larson, sensational actress in Short Term 12 or Room for instance, and requires then a minimum of indulgence. On April the 5th, 2019, the ratings distribution on IMDb is literally extra-ordinary, with an anti-Gaussian curve: either we worship this movie (25% of 9 or 10), either we hate it (55% of 1 or 2), with a staggering total of 80% with these two extremist groups! I find myself torn by contradictory feelings, as usual in some way, but I globally enjoyed this movie. Although it's imperfect, it's definitely worth a try. And even more than this.

A girl gets invited by a mysterious stranger to go to a store to get a unicorn. She's wanted one her entire life despite the attempts by her zany parents to normalise her. Sound like a good plot? It's not, but Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson manage to pull this off and turn it into a sweet lovely film about life and dreams, and love and growing up. I think without Jackson and Larson this would have been a ridiculous film that no-one would like, but they made it work and I now forgive Larson for her searingly bad appearance in Kong.