“Unicorn Store” a technicolor disappointment

Staffer regrets wasting time on Netflix’s movie starring “Captain Marvel’s” Brie Larson

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Netflix’s recently released movie “Unicorn Store” features Brie Larson, of “Captain Marvel” fame, as a whimsical painter who fails out of art school, takes a humdrum office job snd then mysteriously gets a chance to fulfill her lifelong dream of adopting a unicorn.

On a recent weekend, I was laying on the couch looking for anything interesting to watch on Netflix when I saw a familiar face pop up. I had just seen the new “Captain Marvel” movie a couple weeks ago (which I highly recommend) so when I saw Brie Larson I clicked to see what the info box said about the movie “Unicorn Store”. I was skeptical about a movie in which an actor who just played a lead role in an action movie was now portraying an adult who looks like she’s trapped in a typical ‘90s childhood, but despite my skepticism I still clicked play. Do I regret doing so? Yes I do.

“Unicorn Store” originally came out in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up by Netflix in January 2019 and aired in April. Kit, our protagonist played by Larson, is an art student whose art is not being well-received. Her classmates all have white and black paintings, that look modern, chic and maybe, if you stare at them too long, a bit boring. We then see Kit’s art and it looks like an 8-year old went crazy with rainbows. After this display, Kit gets kicked out of art school and ends up back at home with her seemingly loving and stable parents.

Being at her all time low, Kit spends her days being a couch potato. Tired of this, her parents bring in an old friend named Kevin who seems to have it all together. For Kit this is the last thing she needs and she gets defensive, accusing her parents of loving Kevin more and for wanting her to be like him. It’s this that motivates her to get a job and ‘grow up’.

Fast forward a little later in the film and Kit receives a mysterious letter telling her that if she follows the directions on the paper, she will end up at the Unicorn Store. She goes and finds ‘The Salesman’, played by Samuel L. Jackson who also stars in “Captain Marvel” with Larson, who informs her that in order to get her unicorn she must fulfill some requirements. The rest of the movie consists of Kit doing just that.

Between all the Care Bears, rainbows and glitter I was not feeling it and the only thing that kept me from turning off the TV was that I just had to see whether she fulfilled her lifelong-dream of getting a unicorn or not. While Larson is an amazing actress I feel someone else could’ve done a better job at playing Kit, someone who can give off a more child-like vibe.

With her childish behavior and the oddly abnormal plot, I could have gone without seeing this movie. Kudus to the effort but this is not a film worth watching.