Brie Larson's Fantasy Movie With Samuel L. Jackson Is A Quirky Good Time On Netflix

I first saw Brie Larson in her third feature film, the 2004 comedy "Sleepover." She was only about 15 at the time and played one of the main character's friends. I also recall seeing her in 2005 as the best friend character in the ecology comedy "Hoot," based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen. In both cases, she capably brought her talents to pretty nondescript teen roles. Like many, I didn't really notice her as having character and energy until I saw her play Envy Adams in Edgar Wright's stylized 2010 box office bomb "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." Three years later, the critical community sat up and took notice of Larson thanks to her leading turn in the well-received indie drama "Short Term 12," and she famously won an Oscar for her work as a beleaguered hostage in 2015's "Room." 

Throughout all that, Larson gradually cut her teeth as a director. She helmed short films in 2012 and 2013, even as her profile rose thanks to hits like "Trainwreck" and "Kong: Skull Island." Then, she made her feature directorial debut with the fantasy dramedy "Unicorn Store." It was released on Netflix in 2019.

"Unicorn Store" stars Larson as Kit, a put-upon artist who's forced to move back in with her parents after her career doesn't quite take off. Whats more, she's stuck working an office job, which is not what she wanted for herself. In the midst of her malaise, though, she's approached by a magical being who calls himself The Salesman (Samuel L. Jackson) and runs a seemingly supernatural store that can sell Kit whatever she needs. Perhaps sensing that Kit needs some childlike magic in her life, he offers to sell her a real-life unicorn. From there, "Unicorn Store" becomes a whimsical exploration of artistic inspiration.

It's hard to say how much of what Kit experiences in "Unicorn Store" is meant to be real. It appears that The Salesman is essentially giving her inspiration for art projects, and she feels compelled to complete them. She has to build a stable for the unicorn and befriends a hardware store employee named Virgil (Mamoudou Athie) in the process. The two of them even gather food for the forthcoming unicorn and begin to bond over the project.

In a telling wrinkle, Kit is also tasked with creating a loving environment for her unicorn to enter, and that will involve airing unspoken grievances with her impatient parents, played by Joan Cusack and Bradley Whitford. Sadly, going on magical "emotions quests" with her parents isn't the best argument for Kit's maturity or ability to handle complex adult situations. Kit is then tasked with earning enough money to support a unicorn. It seems that the practicalities of real life are horning in on Kit's unicorn fantasies. She eventually starts to realize that her little-kid dreams of caring for a magical animal are no substitute for the realities of adult responsibilities.

Kit isn't mentally unwell, mind you. But she is distracted by fantasies. "Unicorn Store" is a pretty salient drama about how childish fantasies can help one survive but they have to be tempered by real-world needs. Living in a candy castle sounds really great when you're a kid, but as a grown adult, you begin to realize that upkeeping a candy castle would be difficult and expensive (not to mention, eating candy all the time would lead to health problems). Maybe a real, grown-up house would be preferable.

"Unicorn Store" came out shortly after Brie Larson appeared as the title character in the hit superhero movie "Captain Marvel." One could even regard "Unicorn Store" as a thematic counterpoint to "Captain Marvel," as the latter allows one to lose themself in a militaristic power fantasy, whereas the other is explicitly about learning to embrace adult life. At the same time, "Unicorn Store" indicates that there is still magic in the world. 

Larson hasn't directed a feature film since "Unicorn Store," although she has played Captain Marvel several more times, most recently in the 2023 box office bomb "The Marvels." Her most recent film role was voicing Princess Rosalina in "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," so it seems that fantasy castles and princess fantasies are still in her wheelhouse. She will, however, skew away from fantasy for the upcoming drama series "Cry Wolf" on FX, which Larson is both starring in and executive producing.

Critics were generally okay with "Unicorn Store," as evidenced by its 66% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The negative reviews criticized the film's wispiness and sentimentality, arguing that it's too light and insubstantial to really register. Tomris Laffly only gave it one-and-a-half stars in a review for RogerEbert.com, writing, "Quirky to an extreme with not much to say about the millennial resistance to maturity and grown-up responsibilities, Larson's film feels like a perplexing stylistic disagreement between its creative parts." Other folks were charmed by the film's sweetness, though, as was the case when /Film reviewed it. Stream it on Netflix, and see what you think.