Writer/Director Calvin Lee Reeder’s dark, goopy sci-fi horror comedy The A-Frame dangles the potential for a medical miracle when a quantum physicist’s machine opens a portal to a subatomic universe. Things, of course, go awry.
The A-Frame introduces Donna (Dana Namerode) at one of the lowest points in her life as a musician with bone cancer that will require the amputation of her most crucial tool: her arm. But then Donna meets Sam (Johnny Whitworth), a quantum physicist with a groundbreaking machine that could save her limbs and career. But in their desperation for a scientific breakthrough and miracle cure, the blurred ethical lines lead to catastrophic consequences.
The film made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (our review), where Bloody Disgusting spoke with filmmaker Calvin Lee Reeder and stars Dana Namerode and Johnny Whitworth about the characters and goopy sci-fi horror.
“I wanted to explore...
The A-Frame introduces Donna (Dana Namerode) at one of the lowest points in her life as a musician with bone cancer that will require the amputation of her most crucial tool: her arm. But then Donna meets Sam (Johnny Whitworth), a quantum physicist with a groundbreaking machine that could save her limbs and career. But in their desperation for a scientific breakthrough and miracle cure, the blurred ethical lines lead to catastrophic consequences.
The film made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (our review), where Bloody Disgusting spoke with filmmaker Calvin Lee Reeder and stars Dana Namerode and Johnny Whitworth about the characters and goopy sci-fi horror.
“I wanted to explore...
- 6/18/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
The latest edition of the Tribeca Film Festival draws to a close in New York City, leaving another strong year for new genre premieres, retrospectives, and events in its wake.
Tribeca 2024 unveiled the new premiere of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s ultra-bleak The Devil’s Bath, raucous slasher Amfad: All My Friends Are Dead, goopy sci-fi horror comedy The A-Frame, and dusty neo-noir horror A Desert to name a few of the genre offerings this year. But the fest’s genre offerings don’t stop with Midnight programming, a section dedicated to horror and high-energy genre fare.
Here’s a round-up of brief thoughts and capsule reviews of Tribeca’s narrative features that either toe-dip or crash into horror in surprising ways.
The Damned
Director Thordur Palsson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jamie Hannigan (“The Woman in the Wall”), combines 19th-century survival thrills with atmospheric supernatural chills set in an Icelandic fishing village.
Tribeca 2024 unveiled the new premiere of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s ultra-bleak The Devil’s Bath, raucous slasher Amfad: All My Friends Are Dead, goopy sci-fi horror comedy The A-Frame, and dusty neo-noir horror A Desert to name a few of the genre offerings this year. But the fest’s genre offerings don’t stop with Midnight programming, a section dedicated to horror and high-energy genre fare.
Here’s a round-up of brief thoughts and capsule reviews of Tribeca’s narrative features that either toe-dip or crash into horror in surprising ways.
The Damned
Director Thordur Palsson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jamie Hannigan (“The Woman in the Wall”), combines 19th-century survival thrills with atmospheric supernatural chills set in an Icelandic fishing village.
- 6/17/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Calvin Reeder’s “The A-Frame” is chock-full of loaded ideas that don’t quite coalesce. A film about confronting death and a lurid fantasy of escaping its grasp, its story of terminal illness has the potential to be intensely personal. However, when it begins toying with sci-fi tropes and possibilities, it becomes both aesthetically and narratively malformed and feels lost in a liminal space between acerbic gallows humor and existential genre fiction without fully leaning into either one.
A therapy group for cancer patients, led by the thoughtful but to-the-point Linda (Laketa Caston), plays host to the movie’s wordy introduction and sets the stage for how the film expresses fear and desire. “The A-Frame” is a dialogue-heavy film. It relies on exposition for both its science-fiction concepts and its drama, which makes for an awkward disconnect with its protagonist: the sardonic 20-something Donna (Dana Namerode), who joins Linda’s...
A therapy group for cancer patients, led by the thoughtful but to-the-point Linda (Laketa Caston), plays host to the movie’s wordy introduction and sets the stage for how the film expresses fear and desire. “The A-Frame” is a dialogue-heavy film. It relies on exposition for both its science-fiction concepts and its drama, which makes for an awkward disconnect with its protagonist: the sardonic 20-something Donna (Dana Namerode), who joins Linda’s...
- 6/10/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
An ambitious amateur physicist makes some big promises to a desperate cancer patient in Calvin Lee Reeder’s latest feature, The A-Frame. Well known for his lo-fi avant garde nightmare features The Oregonian and The Rambler, Reeder steps into a more linear storytelling style with his latest film, delivering a pitch-black science fiction comedy with heart (and blood). Donna (Dana Namerode) is nearing the end of her rope. Recently diagnosed with an aggressive bone cancer that could lead to an amputation that would end her blossoming music career, she’s desperate for another solution. While sitting in the waiting room at her oncologist’s office, she’s approached by basement physicist Sam (Johnny Whitworth) with a tantalizing offer: take part in a revolutionary experiment and maybe she can keep...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/9/2024
- Screen Anarchy
The setup for writer/director Calvin Lee Reeder’s dark, goopy sci-fi horror comedy The A-Frame adheres to the time-honored tradition of ambitious scientists unleashing grotesque horrors when dabbling with unknown realities beyond our own. While that does mean Cronenbergian body horror ahead, Reeder’s pitch-black sense of humor instead places this twisted slice of sci-fi horror closer to Tales from the Crypt for its almost whimsical sense of macabre justice.
The A-Frame introduces Donna (Dana Namerode) at one of the lowest points in her life as a musician with bone cancer that will require the amputation of her most crucial tool: her arm. That means when we meet her, she’s deep in the anger stage of grief that causes her to lash out. Even at a new cancer support group, where she’s scolded by the group’s host Linda (Laketa Caston). But then Donna meets Sam (Johnny Whitworth...
The A-Frame introduces Donna (Dana Namerode) at one of the lowest points in her life as a musician with bone cancer that will require the amputation of her most crucial tool: her arm. That means when we meet her, she’s deep in the anger stage of grief that causes her to lash out. Even at a new cancer support group, where she’s scolded by the group’s host Linda (Laketa Caston). But then Donna meets Sam (Johnny Whitworth...
- 6/8/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Tribeca Film Festival 2024, presented by Okx, is back this week with tons of new genre premieres, retrospectives, and events to get excited about. This year’s Festival, which takes place June 5-16 in New York City showcases the best emerging talent from across the globe alongside established names.
Horror fans can look forward to buzzy titles like The Devil’s Bath, from filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. But the horror extends beyond the Midnight section, including the premiere of Amfad: All My Friends Are Dead. Look for the festival to give special presentations of Alfred Hitchcock and Tod Browning classics, too.
Finally, if you’re a Godzilla fan, don’t miss the epic bash the fest is throwing for the classic film’s 70th anniversary.
Read on for 14 can’t miss events and screenings to catch at Tribeca:
The A-Frame (United States) – World Premiere. A quantum physicist’s machine...
Horror fans can look forward to buzzy titles like The Devil’s Bath, from filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. But the horror extends beyond the Midnight section, including the premiere of Amfad: All My Friends Are Dead. Look for the festival to give special presentations of Alfred Hitchcock and Tod Browning classics, too.
Finally, if you’re a Godzilla fan, don’t miss the epic bash the fest is throwing for the classic film’s 70th anniversary.
Read on for 14 can’t miss events and screenings to catch at Tribeca:
The A-Frame (United States) – World Premiere. A quantum physicist’s machine...
- 6/4/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
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