When You Wish Upon A Unicorn, Magic Happens

Wish Upon A Unicorn is a 2020 movie about two sisters named Mia and Emma who stay at their grandmother’s house. They discover that their mother is gone. The youngest of the pair, adventurer and upcoming singer, Long Johnson forces his older sister, Lily Johnson, to hunt down a unicorn with magical blood.

Mia (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and Emma’s (Summer Fontana) grandmother acts like a motherly figure to the sisters, as their mother is deceased prior to the events in the opening scene. Their father is widowed due to the sisters’ mother’s death. Mia and Emma are not only sisters but also best friends. When the sisters board the school bus, they sit all the way in the back. This shows that they are both outcasts at their new school, as they are picked on by other kids in the cafeteria and during classes. In fact, this movie is focused mainly on their sisterly bond. Together, they wish upon a unicorn and hope that something good will happen.

The film’s title references the Disney song “When You Wish Upon A Star”, as the song symbolizes that good things will happen through bad days. The unicorn is introduced in the movie as a white horse with one horn and is emphasized by the colors pink, turquoise, and purple. The colors pink, turquoise, and purple are girly colors, as they reflect the sisters’ personalities. Also, the bright colors symbolize the unicorn’s magic, as its blood is magical. Magic is heavily emphasized in this film, as shown through the sparkles and wishing dust.

There is a foreshadowing element in Wish Upon A Unicorn, as Mia and Emma’s grandmother shares a legendary tale of a magical horse who is hunted down and is vulnerable to being captured because it contains magical blood. The legend foreshadows the main climax of the film. The girls promise to keep the horse safe from harm. The unicorn is a magical creature, as it is rarely seen by humans. An imaginary element is that the unicorn flies.

The setting of Wish Upon A Unicorn takes place on a farm. Horses are the main topic of this movie; the movie’s title gives viewers a clue that the main character is a magical horse. Mia and Emma don’t like the idea of living on a farm in the beginning because the way they’re living has made them outcasts. Their only friend at their new school is Patrick, who is given the boy-next-door character persona. Kimmy is the stereotypical mean girl. The unicorn brings the sisters good luck at school, as they experience lucky events and Kimmy gets karma payback.

The main message of Wish Upon A Unicorn is that people should not take advantage of the gifts they receive in life. The horse’s magical blood represents something that is limited; some things don’t last forever. The horse itself is a sacred living thing that needs to be respected.

There is some representation of women in Wish Upon A Unicorn, as Mia and Emma are girls who play the main roles, however, there is no representation of people of color.