Tribeca’s Midnight section blasts off into another dimension with gleeful abandon in writer/director Calvin Lee Reeder’s zany sci-fi horror flick, The A-Frame. Freaky visuals and the bold vision of its creator perfectly suit the simple, low-stakes premise. The implications, however, are nothing but simple: what would a cure for cancer mean for the world? Having lost several loved ones to different forms of cancer, contemplating the possibility of curing it in any way brings out the hope for a miracle. Mad scientist or brilliant genius Sam Dunn (Johnny Whitworth, Valentine, The 100) may have cracked the code with his radical new cancer treatment. Go straight through the entrance gates of terror in unpredictably fun The A-Frame.
Reeder’s not-so-subtle commentary emphasizing quality of life rather than quantity begins early on, as the film opens with Donna (Dana Namerode, What Josiah Saw) attempting to recalibrate her chi by holding amethyst crystals. A cancer support group, led by the warm Linda (LaKeta Caston), is Donna’s next stop. A place that teaches patients the importance of letting go, however, may not be what Donna needs to hear. In a band, Donna plays keyboard, and treasures the use of her hands; diagnosed with a curable, localized bone cancer, a trans-radial amputation surgery will be needed to stop the cancer from spreading. But what if there were another way? Sam meets Donna in the waiting room of a cancer clinic, insisting she take his business card because “I’ve been looking for someone like you.”
In her desperation to somehow save her hand and prevent loss of the limb, Donna contacts Sam. He promises to cure her tonight, stipulating that she cannot tell anyone of the procedure and must use the utmost discretion. Something appears off from the moment Donna arrives in the industrial zone where Sam has a small lab that he also sleeps out of. He volunteers “proof” of his lab rat experimentation, insisting that if she trusts him, her cancer will be completely gone in just seconds. His quantum dislocator can create an artificial black hole, thus presenting the ability to entirely dislocate cancer particles. Though skeptical at first, Donna eventually relents. Miraculously, the “procedure” seems to go off without a hitch. Sam, however, has far more hiding just underneath the surface of his analytical data-driven mind. Johnny Whitworth’s effective portrayal accentuates Sam’s eccentricities and passion for embracing his work, no matter the cost.
Human trials are a fickle beast, as Sam is about to discover. Tertiary characters help juggle the tonal balance of the dark comedy and trippy, mirrored visuals representing the quantum dislocator in action give the audience enough context to willingly embrace the unknown. Rishi (Nik Dodani, Escape Room, Dear Evan Hansen) emerges as the film’s most sympathetic character, trying to perform pun-driven jokes in waiting rooms while struggling with a cancer diagnosis of his own. Not everything here works, but I had a blast as Calvin Lee Reeder never fears pushing the envelope. The A-Frame plays as a tidy, modern day Tales From the Crypt episode at feature length, teaching a wicked lesson and using impressive practical effects work from Cantina Creative to tap into its goopy, Cronenbergian side.
The A-Frame premiered at 2024’s Tribeca Film Festival.
These concerns are very scary 😨 for those of us who live outside of virtual reality. Thank God that 🙏 that there are differences on the physical plane and as as a digital age becomes more and more with us 😀 we must always keep reality in our lives!