By Danielle Bettendorf, Living and Arts Editor
Brie Larson is everything right now – with “Captain Marvel” reigning as the highest-grossing movie of 2019 so far and “Avengers: Endgame” right on its heels, the MCU’s most recent addition is a total superstar. But anyone who saw Larson in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “21 Jump Street” and “Short Term 12” (just a few of her other roles) knows that it was only time before she became a household name.
Larson’s directorial debut “Unicorn Store” – which had its world premiere in 2017 but was not widely distributed until 2019 – came to Netflix on April 5 riding the coattails of “Captain Marvel”’s success. While a tonal shift from the Marvel movies, “Unicorn Store” is unapologetically heartfelt and relatable for anyone who feels like they’re not living up to expectations.
“Unicorn Store” follows Kit, played by Larson, an unsuccessful artist who lives with her parents. Among constant reminders that her dream didn’t work out and she isn’t doing as well as her parents would like, Kit frustratedly applies for work at a temp agency and attempts to combine her straightforward office work with the art she really wants to pursue. When she starts getting notes promising her “what she needs” and inviting her to “The Store,” Kit meets The Salesman, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who promises her that if she prepares everything correctly, he will give her a unicorn.
The film takes on a whimsical tone as Kit enlists the help of others to make the best possible home for the unicorn, which includes building a stable for it to live in and making sure she has enough love to give it. The light moments, such as when Kit tries to figure out what type of hay is best for the unicorn, are interspersed with more serious moments, such as when Kit must confront her strained relationship with her parents in order to provide enough love for the unicorn.
While it can be easy to dismiss the movie as light for being unapologetically girly, “Unicorn Store” tackles heavy anxieties. Kit is constantly followed by the idea that she isn’t good enough – whether it’s in her personal art, her professional job or when she decides to pursue her childhood dream of owning a unicorn. Rather than reveling in naivety, that anxiety shows itself most prominently when Kit asks someone else “Am I pretty enough to be sexually harassed?” On the most basic level, viewers can see Kit as ditzy and out-of-touch with the world around her. This ignores the female experience that is to be expected from a movie both written and directed by women.
The most prominent characteristic of rape culture is that it makes you question your experiences and undermine yourself. What we see of Kit’s workplace in the movie makes it clear that there is an unhealthy gender dynamic in the office – one that pits women against each other and makes them conform to gender standards in order to “prove” themselves to their male superiors. Kit’s question isn’t to show how detached she is from her coworkers – it shows how normalized toxic behaviors are in an environment that she’s just joined.
On a similar note, I have problems with those who call Kit a “manic pixie dream girl.” The trope of the “manic pixie dream girl” is all about helping men further their story – which doesn’t apply at all, given that the movie is entirely about Kit’s development. This is just a cheap way of criticizing women for being feminine, even when nothing in her story has anything to do with a man.
“Unicorn Store” is openly itself and while it does jump into its quirks, it does so with no reservations.
By the time the credits rolled and Alex Greenwald crooned, “Made a wish when we were young/Chasing after our desires/Nothing at all would do/For a girl like you/For a girl like you,” I was fully sobbing. “Unicorn Store” is, at its heart, a story about a woman who finds happiness and self-contentment when everyone else told her she wasn’t enough.
As someone who is graduating in a month, this hit really close to home. I’m sure lots of you can relate when I say that I have a lot of self-doubt and feel like I’m not living up to my potential.
“Unicorn Store” is a powerful love letter to being yourself, no matter how many obstacles stand in your way. Some critics have characterized it as lacking depth – but it’s almost impossible to take those reviews in mind without thinking of how often femininity is denounced by society. Kit is rainbows and unicorns and paint splatter and glitter and that isn’t for anyone else to judge. After all, when’s the last time a movie about masculinity was criticized for being surface level? “Unicorn Store” gets four stars.
