The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Wish Upon a Unicorn
Adventure · Family · Fantasy · 2020
Two children discover that their mother is gone. The youngest of the pair, adventurer and upcomming singer, Long Johnson forces his older sister, Lily Johnson, to hunt down a unicorn with magical blood.
Movie details
Wish Upon a Unicorn
2020 Adventure · Family · Fantasy 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.9 / 10
Community rating
Two children discover that their mother is gone. The youngest of the pair, adventurer and upcomming singer, Long Johnson forces his older sister, Lily Johnson, to hunt down a unicorn with magical blood.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Wish Upon a Unicorn?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The King's Daughter
Fantasy · 2022
King Louis XIV's quest for immortality leads him to capture and steal a mermaid's life force, a move that is further complicated by his illegitimate daughter's discovery of the creature.
Labyrinth
Adventure · 1986
Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into a fantastical world to rescue him from the Goblin King. Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers.
Stardust
Adventure · 2007
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
Prince Charming
Adventure · 2001
After an extramarital indiscretion, a fairy-tale prince and his sidekick are turned into frogs for all eternity or until the prince can convince a maiden to kiss and then marry him.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Adventure · 2005
Four kids travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia and learn of their destiny to free it with the guidance of a mystical lion.
Snow Queen
Adventure · 2002
Since a bitter winter storm stole the life of Gerda's mother, she and her father have sadly continued to run the remote hotel they call home. Lonely and isolated, Gerda's only joy is Kai, the handsome bellboy. A mysterious guest with an icy stare arrives at the hotel one night, wrapped in fur and diamonds. By daybreak, the "Snow Queen" has vanished with Kai! Gerda embarks on a journey of morphing seasons, fantastical creatures, and long-frozen mysteries in a desperate quest to find her stolen love.
Shorts
Family · 2009
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Spymate
Adventure · 2006
Amelia, a young genius and daughter of a top secret agent, unknowingly invents a contraption that makes her the target of an evil scientist.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Adventure · 2013
In their quest to confront the ultimate evil, Percy and his friends battle swarms of mythical creatures to find the mythical Golden Fleece and to stop an ancient evil from rising.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Adventure · 2016
A teenager finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures intent on destroying them.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Steve Bencich
Written by
Steve Bencich
Ryan Kiera Armstrong
Mia Dindal
Summer Fontana
Emma Dindal
Kevin J. O'Connor
Willie
Anthony Backman
Mr. Backman
S
Steve Bencich
Vagrant Lunatic
Tait Blum
Patrick
Seth Bowling
Young Willie
Court is in session
Put Wish Upon a Unicorn on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.