Unicorn Code
2021 · 11m · Canada
Directed by Martin Glegg
Tones: contemplative, mythic, tender
Two teenage outsiders, Iona and Zoe, hanging out in an abandoned lumberyard, spot a mysterious injured creature in the distance — a real unicorn — and form an immediate bond with it. They're not the only ones drawn to the animal, and what unfolds becomes a magical-realist western about courage, genetic engineering, and our sacred relationship with nature.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It *should* be insufferable—mythic creature, twee teen friendship, genetic engineering as metaphor—but Glegg refuses the sentimental move; he lets the unicorn stay genuinely unknowable, lets the landscape dwarf the epiphany, and that refusal is what makes it work.
A formally composed meditation on the pastoral mode, where the golden-hour cinematography and the deliberate pacing situate this firmly in the lineage of New Nature Cinema—contemplative, rigorous, aware of its own relationship to myth and landscape tradition.
The entire film hinges on a single decision: to shoot with a real horse and let the camera hold on it in unbroken, unhurried takes, which transforms what could've been magical-realism fantasy into something tactile and immediate—that commitment to presence over spectacle is what elevates the whole thing.
Reviews
A compelling fantasy short [that] has the look and feel of a western, shot with a luminous naturalism suffused with golden light and an eye for striking landscapes.
A magical realist film with a western twist… retelling classic fables with contemporary relevance about human empowerment and the boundaries of genetic engineering.
Festivals
- Whistler Film Festival 2021
- Cannes Short Film Corner 2021