Review: Sunburnt Unicorn is a trippy trip through a desert

There's no such thing as a simple parental relationship. Even if you're lucky enough to have a good relationship with your parents (like me, thankfully), there's always going to be a lot to unpack, a lot of baggage. That history, that relationship can't help but be marked by frustrations, disappointments, confusion, but also (hopefully) joy, understanding, and, above all, love.

Untangling these connections is one of the core concerns of writer-director Nick Johnson's charmingly warped Sunburnt Unicorn. In the aftermath of a car accident in the middle of a godforsaken desert, young Frankie treks in search of his father, despite their thorny relationship (and a nasty recent argument). Along the way, he meets a colorful cast of talking animals, all of whom are also a part of strange parent-child relationships. In these meetings, Frankie finds rhymes, frictions, and answers to his own complicated feelings about his father -- never easy, never clean and clear, but each one helps him come into himself a little more, and to find himself a little readier to restart the relationship with a more open heart and mind.

If that sounds like a sweet and simple tale that's fit for the whole family, it isn't. This movie has a delightfully twisted sense of humor, starting with the title itself. I don't want to give away the gag (and I've picked my screenshots accordingly), but the cheeky meaning becomes apparent right out of the gate, and it got a good laugh out of me. As did a lot of other bits and jokes throughout the movie. The script is full of dark humor, brought to life by a small and mighty voice cast that delivers their dialogue with great comic timing and plenty of venom where needed. I particularly loved the kit fox pups, with their big red eyes and extremely ominous delivery. Adorable and dangerous? Count me in!

I also really loved Tortoise, whose simple, straightforward kindness provides a beam of light that cuts right through the movie, and right into Frankie, helping to illuminate and soothe the latter's more messy array of emotional turmoil. It's a smart character pairing that helps to keep the film's thematic through-line top of mind alongside the more set-piece driven plotting of Frankie's journey across the desert.

I really dug the film's aesthetic, which kept scratching my brain in a similar way to a really good indie game that strives for a cool stylistic flair rather than hyper-realism (I think I landed there because the human characters look like they'd be at home in a game like Broken Age). We actually get a little of both here. Some of the desert locales are rendered really beautifully and pretty realistically, which serves as a nice counter to the much more "cartoony" character designs. I love how Frankie looks almost like he's molded from clay, with his upturned nose, knobby limbs, and smooth curvy hair. (My favorite character design comes right at the end of the film: someone who's alluded to throughout with an air of mythological weight that had me wondering and anticipating his appearance. And is very much worth the wait, because wow.)

Also, importantly, for a movie that takes place in a desert, this gets heat right. The blazing sun, the rippling waves of heat, the dryness, the titular sunburn. I really felt it all. There's a great tactility to Frankie's plight, his pain. Glass shards, cactus spikes, that fucking sunburn. Really well done.

Another highlight is the fucking awesome score by PIQSIQ, which does a great job of really getting to the core of each scene. Sometimes it's haunting and dreamlike with a chorus of ghostly voices. Other times, it's almost Dune-like, appropriate since this is also about a boy wandering through the desert and inspiring (unwarranted?) awe in the characters he meets. I was jazzed that the soundtrack is already available online. Instant addition to my Apple Music library.

As of now, Sunburnt Unicorn is on the festival circuit. After playing at fests like Annecy and Fantasia, next up is the currently-ongoing Ottawa International Animation Festival, where it's playing Friday at 5:00pm and Saturday at 11:00am. It'll also be part of BC Spark in November, and will hopefully start hitting some US fests in 2025. It's certainly worth keeping an eye out for.