Two new satires — one in movie theaters and the other on streaming platforms — produce a fair amount of laughs this week. We review both as well as an indie drama that’s destined to make you tear up.

Here’s our roundup.

“Death of a Unicorn” >> There’s something cathartic and satisfying about watching crazed unicorns eviscerate a rotten Sackler-like family that is intent on profiteering from the corpse of one of those magical beasts. And it is in those vengeance-seeking moments that director Alex Scharfman’s satirical, ultra-gory creature feature succeeds, as a slap to the face of rampant greed and billionaire cluelessness. Where it comes up short is being a scary monster movie and a legit family drama. Its weak CGI effects aren’t convincing and simply don’t induce any “Jurassic Park”-like heebie-jeebies.

“Unicorn” bounces all over the place and rams into too many genres. The central relationship between Ridley (Jenna Ortega) and her lawyer dad Elliot (Paul Rudd) — an underwritten character — rings hollow, while the mythological unicorn elements thrown in seem rote and underdeveloped.

It starts with immense promise. While driving to Elliot’s employers’ sprawling estate for a weekend meeting, Elliot bashes a rental car into a legendary beast and then stuffs its dead body in the back. Shortly after they arrive at the Leopolds’ outrageous mansion the family there realizes a unicorn is in the car, a discovery that summons a couple of researchers who then mine the mystical properties of its horn to help terminally ill family patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant).

The best surprises emanate from two sources: a hilarious turn from Will Poulter as Odell’s son, and the screenplay’s zinger-like putdowns of the patronizing, self-absorbed ultra-rich. Poulter fully embraces his role as a pretty-boy, striped shorts-wearing member of the entitled class — a narcissistic dolt who bellows out demands to “the staff” and aligns entirely with the film’s intention to rotisserie the rich. His performance is so good it’s reason to see the film.

Aiding him in making the Leopolds one of the most disgusting families you’ll meet onscreen is Téa Leoni. She plays Belina, family matriarch and dubious do-gooder who possesses a cavernous soul. Leoni too knows what to do, switching from faux caring to outright greed with one blink of the eye. Those performances sustain “Death of a Unicorn” and give it the steady magic this all-over-the-map film sadly too often lacks.

Details >> out of 4; opens Friday in area theaters.

“The Studio” >> It’s no secret Hollywood loves to shower love on itself. That’s why there have countless films and even a couple of series constructed around the agony and the ecstasy of moviemaking. Few have skewered La-La land with such zeal as this 10-episode Apple TV+ series from creator/writer/star Seth Rogen, executive producer/co-creator Evan Goldberg and co-creators Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez.

“The Studio” tosses big-studio moviemaking onto the red hot barbie and grills the heck out of it. Rogen is well cast as flustered Matt Remick, a bungling new CEO for the ailing Continental Studios. Matt is out of his league and his next pratfall is always just around the corner. He mucks up active shooting sets, infuriating even extra-patient filmmaker Sarah Polley, gets the side-eye from Charlize Theron for crashing her party and ticks off Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard. Ron Howard!

Yes, “The Studio” is packed with big-name cameos but they aren’t there merely for show. OK, maybe some are. Yet each celeb appearance — even Dave Franco and Zoe Saldana’s perfect cameos — never overwhelms the series’ purpose to let Matt and his harried band of studio colleagues get all tangled up in trying to get their jobs done and pull off a blockbuster that could save the studio’s butt — and theirs in the process.

“The Studio” breezes along through 20-minute-plus episodes but isn’t an empty-headed lark and does make some zinging points about an industry in dire crisis. It does that while goofily charting the many offenses and defenses of Matt and his unforgettable compadres. The wild bunch around him consists of some of the best comedians working in the biz — Catherine O’Hara as Matt’s predecessor, Ike Barinholtz as his slick pal, Kathryn Hahn as an outspoken marketing director, Chase Sui Wonders, a relative newcomer as Matt’s elevated assistant and Bryan Cranston as Matt’s hot-headed boss — whose presence strengthens Rogen’s flummoxed performance and provides “The Studio” with its antic, hyperactive energy. Here’s hoping “The Studio” does become a hit so that Hollywood does comes naturally and milk its success for all it’s worth and make it a franchise. Oh, the irony.

Details >> ; first two episodes available now, with one new episode released weekly through May 21.

Bob Trevino Likes It” >> There’s a surplus of emotion and vulnerability in director/screenwriter Tracie Laymon’s feature debut that will make you cry at least once. In truth, this lovely tale inspired by Laymon’s own fulfilling encounter with someone special on, of all, places Facebook made me cry three times. OK, OK, four. Maybe I’m just a softie, but I fell hard for both of its main characters — the effervescent but always acquiescing and often forlorn Lily (Barbie Ferreira) and the lonely married workaholic Bob (John Leguizamo). The two connect on Facebook when Lily mistakes Leguizamo’s character for another Bob (French Stewart), her awful narcissistic dad who only wants her around to be his wing person when he’s wooing the blonde-haired (only) ladies. The non-related Bob accepts Lily’s friend request and soon the two begin to hang out, joke with each other, share stories and inevitably realize that a chosen family can be far more caring and loving than the biological one you’ve been given. That might not be a particularly revelatory message, but the film is filled with compassion and empathy and a reminder that life is indeed all too short. “Bob Trevino” and its two leads all but reach out of the screen and give you a big hug. And, oh, how we all need that right now.

Details >> , opens Friday in theaters,

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.