28 December, 2016

2016 Films: #33. The Autopsy of Jane Doe


This was an iTunes rental that was viewed on December 23rd. My wife saw this trailer while I was traveling for work and she seemed really excited so when I got back, we planned an evening around the picture.

The film is directed by André Øvredal (if you've never seen Trollhunter, watch it, it's available on Netflix!) and it stars Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as Tommy and Austin Tilden, father/son coroners in a small Virginia town who are tasked with discovering the cause of death of a body found at a grisly crime scene (the film opens at the crime scene and it is particularly bloody, very bloody). As the Tilden's progress through the examination, they find clues about her death that lead to more head scratching questions. As they continue to examine the body and discover the clues, things start to get weirder and weirder until things ultimately end in tragedy.

Most of the film takes place in the examination room of the mortuary that the Tilden's run and that sense of confinement adds to the tension. It's just the Tildens and the body. The film probably has a modest budget and some of the VFX reflect that but Øvredal does a really nice job with what he has. The runtime is on 86 minutes so the film is very no-nonsense and you get a lot out of it. This film is worth watching, it's got an interesting story, solid acting and a good pace.


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