If you’re going to make a film about suicide — let alone a dark comedy — tone is really everything. Without it, a film’s “will they/won’t they go through with it” dramatic crutch is likely to take over and render the film pointless. By the look of its trailer, though, Sequoia will not suffer from such a fate. This is likely thanks in part to the film’s star, Aly Michalka — you might know her as one half of the Disney duo Aly & AJ — who is already garnering major buzz following the film’s premiere at South By Southwest this past Sunday.

Flanked by a cast that includes Dustin Milligan, Todd Lowe, Demetri Martin, Sophi Bairley, Joey Lauren Adams, and Lou Diamond Phillips, Sequoia follows Michalka’s Riley as she makes her way to the Sequoia National Park to end her terminal cancer-ridden life on her own terms. When she meets Ogden (Milligan) — a sensitive musician-y type — on her journey towards inevitable death, her plan to overdose becomes a second-guessed offense.

The film is still playing around SXSW — Thursday, March 13 at 4:30PM and Friday, March 14 at 2:00PM — if you’re lucky enough to be in Austin. Otherwise we’ll just have to wait for Hollywood to see the forest from the trees and pick up the distribution rights for it.

What do you think of the Sequoia trailer? Let us know in the comments.