Viewer discretion is advised for this particular film. I have been rather lenient in terms of gore so far, but not with this one. The Autopsy of Jane Doe has been one of the more thrilling and mysterious movies I’ve seen this year. However, if you have a weak stomach, best not to have a full meal before going into this one.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a supernatural horror film by André Øvredal starring Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox, and Olwen Kelly as the unidentified body, Jane Doe. It takes place in the family coroner’s office, a modest set with few places to run and fewer places to hide. It’s a spacious office to say the least, but nothing can prepare the two coroners for what they are about to discover.
“A father-son team of small-town coroners perform an autopsy on an unidentified woman with mysterious injuries and a terrifying secret.”
-Netflix Summary (2016)
Story
Make sure you go into this movie expecting R-rated content. The father-son team of Tommy and Austin Tilden immediately sold it for me as a competent pair of coroners, a father teaching his son a trade that’s definitely not for everyone. One late night, they receive a fresh corpse to examine, and it’s their job to find a cause of death.
This should be an easy autopsy, until they begin to slowly reveal what’s wrong with the mysterious Jane Doe. In fact, the problem turns out to be how well she’s hiding it on the outside.
As the viewer, you know that everything the coroners are finding is just not right. You’ll constantly think to yourself, “That shouldn’t be there.” or “How’s that possible?!” You soon begin to understand that this is no ordinary Jane Doe, and the characters in our story are in for more than they bargained for.
Supernatural Horror
As a supernatural horror, this movie does things extremely well. There’s nothing more spine tingling than being in a room with bodies you know are NOT supposed to be moving. There’s great use of foreshadowing with specific objects and surfaces that are used to great effect when things start to ramp up.
If there is one thing you’ll be obsessing over, it’s that Jane Doe stays as motionless as possible. If she blinks or twitches, I’m out! Olwel Kelly, playing the part of Jane Doe, should be commended for her role as the corpse. There’s something very unnerving about a body that’s been dead for hours, yet still bearing of the flexibility of a fresh body.
Verdict
By the third act of the movie, the mystery is more or less solved and you’ll find yourself in familiar territory. The more interesting parts of the movie were focused on the in depth autopsy of Jane Doe, and the bond between the father and son duo. From the very start, I hoped that things would turn out well for them. Sometimes, it’s a curse to be too familiar with this genre. Even outside of the Halloween season, it’s a great movie to watch with the light off.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is available to stream on Netflix.
Story: 8/10
Scares: 7/10
Gore: 10/10
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alejandro Furnells
Student Author - Fall 2019
