Logan Sork Film Reviews
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
It’s hard to make a film that’s engaging from beginning to end. To do this, the script, direction, editing, acting, and other elements need to work in perfect tandem to keep your eyes locked to the screen from beginning to end. This is something that very few films are able to accomplish. The Autopsy of Jane Doe very nearly gets away with this, but ultimately can’t stick the landing. Still, the rest of the film is extremely engaging with an enthralling mystery, tense direction, and great performances that make the film engaging for a large majority, if not the whole way.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe is directed by André Øvredal and stars Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox as father and son coroners who are responsible for identifying the causes of death of victims in a rural town. One night, the sheriff brings in an unidentified body found at the scene of a brutal crime and asks them to determine the cause of death. While it seems like a typical case for the coroners, further exploration into the body determines that it is anything but. A point which is made even further as the night progresses and more dark and strange things occur.
It’s always important to try and engage the audience as early on as you can. If you don’t get them within the first 10 minutes, you likely won’t get them at all. This is something that the film does exceptionally well. From the opening scene, we are tossed into this brutal crime scene. Blood everywhere, not many victims, but one of them feels as if she belongs somewhere else. Already, you question why this body is different than the rest and why she was there to begin with. This question lingers in your mind as the coroners carry out their procedure into the night. I cannot really remember the last time I was this hooked at the start of the film. The investigation also presents a lot of strange things for you to try and figure out, making it great fun to try and be one step ahead of our characters. It’s a genuinely engaging mystery that has you hooked right from the start, something not every film can brag about.
Part of what makes it so engaging is the direction by André Øvredal. He does a fantastic job keeping the pace nice and quick but not so quick that you can’t keep track of everything. This keeps the audience to be engaged for almost every minute of screen time as it wastes no second. Øvredal also does a great job of creating tension and scares in a small, singular location. There are lots of scary and creative visuals carried out, making for some truly terrifying imagery. Of course, a big part of the imagery comes from the special effects and makeup department. These departments really contribute to some of the film’s most disturbing scenes, with most of them coming from the grotesque body effects they created for the mysterious body. They are both extremely realistic and hard to look at, yet at the same time very eye-catching and begging you to take a closer look. This film is a great example of how direction can go to creating a tension-filled experience.
Another great element that keeps you engaged is the characters and the actors portraying them. Even with a short run time, we manage to learn about our main father and son leads. This includes their personal relationship, how it functions, their pasts, and even their dreams. Not only does the script do a good job fleshing them out, but the performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch bring even more nuances to the characters. They are also extremely good, and they must be since the whole film pretty much centers around them.
However, despite the great pacing, intense mystery, and great performances, the film, unfortunately, cannot deliver a satisfying conclusion. This mainly has to do with the fact that there simply isn’t enough time to make the story come to an end in an organic. At just 85 minutes, the film rushes to a quick and underwhelming conclusion just when it reaches its peak. This rushed nature contrasts wildly with the slow burn build up that was happening in the previous hour. Characters go from discovering things in a realistic way to simply theorizing on what might be happening and being right about it. If the film had an additional 20-25 minutes, then we might have gotten a great conclusion. As it stands though, the film simply bites off more than it can chew.
Despite the rushed ending, that doesn’t mean that the first two-thirds of the film are not excellent, quite the opposite in fact. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a fantastic mystery that has you hooked from the opening frame and delivers plenty of great scares and twists along the way. Add to this the fantastic direction, tense atmosphere, and great performances and you’ve got yourself a perfect film that is ultimately done in by it’s short run-time. While the destination may not be what one might hope for, the journey this film takes you on is one to remember.
7/10