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Synopsis
Arrowhead follows the story of a corrupt rural Sheriff’s deputy named JACK. He is indebted to the local mob, something he hates, but does nothing to change. He is called by the mob to handle unearthed indigenous bones. The mob boss wants them to disappear to avoid a construction slowdown. Jack sees an Arrowhead necklace with the bones and knows that the remains belonged to a Modoc warrior, a tribe that fought a failed battle with the Army in the 1800s, one that eventually led to a heroic Spartan-like last stand. The necklace calls out to him: the sounds of cannons, rifles and the whoops and cries of native warriors. As this happens, his eyes flash a green that doesn’t belong to him.
Jack asks for a few days to dispose of the remains discreetly. That evening, his colleague calls and suggests that they bribe the mob boss to keep the remains a secret. Jack rejects the idea. That night, Jack dreams about a battle he fought as a soldier in Afghanistan, and he sees a Modoc warrior in the dream who looks like him. The mob boss calls, saying they need to meet. Jack meets the mob boss and learns that his colleague already tried to bribe the mob boss and was killed. Jack realizes that his life is in danger, and the Modoc warrior spirit that is now inside him rises to the challenge.
Director's Statement:
Arrowhead is a character driven modern western with a soft spoken underdog character inspired by the likes of spaghetti westerns of a different era. I grew up with these characters, watching these stories and their hero's journeys that took me out of my life and into the movies. For Arrowhead, our lead is an anti-hero, but one constantly questioning who he is and why he’s different from everyone else, a fact reinforced by the community around him. He’s also carrying trauma, a result of his service in the war in Afghanistan. And the combination of these things has led him on a path to self-destruction, but as life would have it, his direct connection to a powerful moment in history will change him forever. Mixed in with both physical and internal antagonists, Arrowhead is meant to be an original and potent thriller that examines trauma told in a modern west setting.
I wanted to tell a story about fighting our own inner turmoil, something we’ve all dealt with personally. The story is also very much about what it’s like to be different in America. You’ll see within the film that even our lead’s friends chastise and joke with him over his culture and ethnicity, something I’ve experienced first hand growing up, but also during my career including while deployed in Afghanistan. It’s a shared American experience that I wanted to capture on screen within this genre.
For most of us that face these issues, maybe there's a voice in our heads that challenges us at best, or puts us down at worst. Maybe it's more cerebral in dreams or feelings. For our lead in Arrowhead, he's faced with something else that wants to take control within him. Our hero’s inner demon is personified in this film, forcing him to face it head on and fight it not only mentally, but also physically, in order to survive.
The film is in a lot of ways a blend of genres. First and foremost, it's a modern western, drawing on the iconic anti-hero archetype we see in Once Upon a Time in the West or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. However, I wanted to create a character with a grounded backstory that is relevant to the struggles they face today, namely, a character forged by the past twenty plus years of American conflict in the Middle East. And I believe what further sets Arrowhead apart is its twist: taking a typical western story but then telling it through a psychological horror sci-fi lens.
Our lead is gifted and cursed with the powers of a legendary warrior who used these same abilities to fight against overwhelming odds. The catch is that once that warrior is let out of their box, we don't know how far they will go and how long our hero will be in control. In this film, I hope you experience the dark origin of an unlikely superhero that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Crew:
Reinhard Cate - Writer/Director
Reinhard Cate is an Austrian-Filipino-American writer, director, and former journalist. His video and written work have appeared in the BBC World News, Frontline World, the Wall Street Journal, Alpinist Magazine and Ripple Labs. He has also directed several documentaries covering subjects such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, cash aid in development, and crypto. He has had a diverse career as an immigration law coordinator and assistant for Catholic Charities, a development economist, and as an analyst for the Department of Defense. In Afghanistan, Reinhard researched the factors impacting local police recruitment while attached to a U.S. Special Forces team from 2011-2012. He leans into his unique background and upbringing to shape his storytelling. This has included stories inspired by his work across the Middle East, experiences rock climbing in Yosemite, his relationship with his Austrian grandmother and his experiences growing up as a bi-racial son of a Filipino immigrant.
Nate McLean - Cinematographer
Nate’s passion for shooting started as a hobby cutting together action sports videos and quickly turned into a career that has taken him around the globe. Whether it’s a low or high-budget project, Nate puts in 100% of his effort, making sure it’s a project everyone on the team is proud of. When he’s not tinkering with the latest camera builds in the studio, you might find him 60 feet underwater swimming through caves, or lost in the Sierra's mountain biking.
Austin Simmons - Producer
Austin Simmons is a filmmaker and creative professional currently residing in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Austin has written, directed, edited, and produced numerous award-winning short films, including Bravo (2016), Last Meal (2017), How to Plan a Heist (2020), Never Getting Rid of Me, Bitch (2023) and Arrowhead (2024). His senior thesis film, Last Meal, has been viewed over half a million times on YouTube and was nominated for “Best Dramatic Short” at the Napa Valley Film Festival, as well as winning “Best Short - Honorable Mention” at Dances with Films as well as “Best Young Filmmaker” at the Big Water Film Festival.
Alexander Arntzen - Composer
Alexander Arntzen is a prolific Film Composer & Singer/Songwriter of multiple genres, styles, and mediums. Some career highlights include original music for Last Man Down (Netflix Top 10
Movies), Follow Her (Showtime/Paramount+), HERD (Shudder/AMC+), Initiation (SXSW), Unmothered (Max), & Stalled (Slamdance/Fantasia).
- Runtime14:52
Stream the curated UCLAxFilmFest 2025 Official Selections here!
Synopsis
Arrowhead follows the story of a corrupt rural Sheriff’s deputy named JACK. He is indebted to the local mob, something he hates, but does nothing to change. He is called by the mob to handle unearthed indigenous bones. The mob boss wants them to disappear to avoid a construction slowdown. Jack sees an Arrowhead necklace with the bones and knows that the remains belonged to a Modoc warrior, a tribe that fought a failed battle with the Army in the 1800s, one that eventually led to a heroic Spartan-like last stand. The necklace calls out to him: the sounds of cannons, rifles and the whoops and cries of native warriors. As this happens, his eyes flash a green that doesn’t belong to him.
Jack asks for a few days to dispose of the remains discreetly. That evening, his colleague calls and suggests that they bribe the mob boss to keep the remains a secret. Jack rejects the idea. That night, Jack dreams about a battle he fought as a soldier in Afghanistan, and he sees a Modoc warrior in the dream who looks like him. The mob boss calls, saying they need to meet. Jack meets the mob boss and learns that his colleague already tried to bribe the mob boss and was killed. Jack realizes that his life is in danger, and the Modoc warrior spirit that is now inside him rises to the challenge.
Director's Statement:
Arrowhead is a character driven modern western with a soft spoken underdog character inspired by the likes of spaghetti westerns of a different era. I grew up with these characters, watching these stories and their hero's journeys that took me out of my life and into the movies. For Arrowhead, our lead is an anti-hero, but one constantly questioning who he is and why he’s different from everyone else, a fact reinforced by the community around him. He’s also carrying trauma, a result of his service in the war in Afghanistan. And the combination of these things has led him on a path to self-destruction, but as life would have it, his direct connection to a powerful moment in history will change him forever. Mixed in with both physical and internal antagonists, Arrowhead is meant to be an original and potent thriller that examines trauma told in a modern west setting.
I wanted to tell a story about fighting our own inner turmoil, something we’ve all dealt with personally. The story is also very much about what it’s like to be different in America. You’ll see within the film that even our lead’s friends chastise and joke with him over his culture and ethnicity, something I’ve experienced first hand growing up, but also during my career including while deployed in Afghanistan. It’s a shared American experience that I wanted to capture on screen within this genre.
For most of us that face these issues, maybe there's a voice in our heads that challenges us at best, or puts us down at worst. Maybe it's more cerebral in dreams or feelings. For our lead in Arrowhead, he's faced with something else that wants to take control within him. Our hero’s inner demon is personified in this film, forcing him to face it head on and fight it not only mentally, but also physically, in order to survive.
The film is in a lot of ways a blend of genres. First and foremost, it's a modern western, drawing on the iconic anti-hero archetype we see in Once Upon a Time in the West or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. However, I wanted to create a character with a grounded backstory that is relevant to the struggles they face today, namely, a character forged by the past twenty plus years of American conflict in the Middle East. And I believe what further sets Arrowhead apart is its twist: taking a typical western story but then telling it through a psychological horror sci-fi lens.
Our lead is gifted and cursed with the powers of a legendary warrior who used these same abilities to fight against overwhelming odds. The catch is that once that warrior is let out of their box, we don't know how far they will go and how long our hero will be in control. In this film, I hope you experience the dark origin of an unlikely superhero that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Crew:
Reinhard Cate - Writer/Director
Reinhard Cate is an Austrian-Filipino-American writer, director, and former journalist. His video and written work have appeared in the BBC World News, Frontline World, the Wall Street Journal, Alpinist Magazine and Ripple Labs. He has also directed several documentaries covering subjects such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, cash aid in development, and crypto. He has had a diverse career as an immigration law coordinator and assistant for Catholic Charities, a development economist, and as an analyst for the Department of Defense. In Afghanistan, Reinhard researched the factors impacting local police recruitment while attached to a U.S. Special Forces team from 2011-2012. He leans into his unique background and upbringing to shape his storytelling. This has included stories inspired by his work across the Middle East, experiences rock climbing in Yosemite, his relationship with his Austrian grandmother and his experiences growing up as a bi-racial son of a Filipino immigrant.
Nate McLean - Cinematographer
Nate’s passion for shooting started as a hobby cutting together action sports videos and quickly turned into a career that has taken him around the globe. Whether it’s a low or high-budget project, Nate puts in 100% of his effort, making sure it’s a project everyone on the team is proud of. When he’s not tinkering with the latest camera builds in the studio, you might find him 60 feet underwater swimming through caves, or lost in the Sierra's mountain biking.
Austin Simmons - Producer
Austin Simmons is a filmmaker and creative professional currently residing in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Austin has written, directed, edited, and produced numerous award-winning short films, including Bravo (2016), Last Meal (2017), How to Plan a Heist (2020), Never Getting Rid of Me, Bitch (2023) and Arrowhead (2024). His senior thesis film, Last Meal, has been viewed over half a million times on YouTube and was nominated for “Best Dramatic Short” at the Napa Valley Film Festival, as well as winning “Best Short - Honorable Mention” at Dances with Films as well as “Best Young Filmmaker” at the Big Water Film Festival.
Alexander Arntzen - Composer
Alexander Arntzen is a prolific Film Composer & Singer/Songwriter of multiple genres, styles, and mediums. Some career highlights include original music for Last Man Down (Netflix Top 10
Movies), Follow Her (Showtime/Paramount+), HERD (Shudder/AMC+), Initiation (SXSW), Unmothered (Max), & Stalled (Slamdance/Fantasia).
- Runtime14:52
