Review - The Autopsy of Jane Doe

I like to broadly classify horror movies into two categories. First, there are the ones with paper-thin stories that rely on gazillions of special effects and done-to-death movie tropes, to make clumsy attempts at making the audience jump. While these movies do make me feel uneasy at times, more often than not it is for the wrong reasons.

Then, there are the superbly atmospheric, chill-inducing titles with tight editing that define the genre; the ones make the hair on my neck stand up for a brief moment, if I remember them while entering a dark room, or right after I turn the light off at bedtime. André Øvredal's The Autopsy of Jane Doe is one such movie.

A stunning, no-nonsense opening sets the mood

Something I really like is how Øvredal doesn't waste time offering a long narrative at the beginning of the movie. Instead, in the first scene itself, he takes us to a house in Grantham, Virginia, where a truck of a construction company is parked on the driveway. A shot of the backyard shows a pristine white coffee table flanked by two chairs, with a coffee mug and an extinguished cigarette in an ashtray. All in all, the perfect image of a peaceful morning in a small town home.

From the opening sequence itself, Øvredal decides to show, not tell 

The inside of the house, however, tells another tale. The floor bears more blood smears than a butcher shop on a busy day. Blood-soaked dead bodies and weapons litter the floor. A team of police officers and forensic experts comb the macabre scene in search of clues. Finally, they find the weirdest clue they could ever imagine - the naked body of a beautiful woman half-buried in the basement, without a scratch on her. In search of answers, they transfer the body of the unidentified woman, a "Jane Doe" to the local, family-owned mortuary for urgent autopsy. As the father-son team of coroners start to work on the body, they discover that it carries a rather sinister secret about her.

The performances are top-notch, across the board

Emile Hirsch (left) and Brian Cox deliver brilliant performances

Emile Hirsch (Wild Iris, Alpha Dog, Into the Wild) and legendary actor Brian Cox (Bourne Identity, Manhunter, Braveheart, Rushmore) team up as the coroners trying to determine the cause of death of Jane Doe (Olwen Kelly). From the very beginning, it becomes clear that the son is relatively new to the trade, and is in the process of learning the tricks of the trade from his experienced father. They work well together as a team; the son bringing some much needed humor and the father explaining  various processes, as well as sharing words of wisdom.

Cox expertly delivers what's arguably one of the best quotes in the movie

The pacing is just perfect for a horror movie

Øvredal sure knows how to pace a horror movie for maximum impact. For the first hour, he takes time to set up the backdrop for the climax, offering plenty of "what the" moments as the father-son duo dig deeper (pun intended) into Jane Doe. Once that's over, he shifts to high gear, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats for the remainder, with plenty of genuinely scary moments. There are jump scares too, but those have been handled so well that none of them feels cliched, or forced. Besides, I'm not going to hint at what the coroners find, but it does provide a fresh take on a topic that has been previously covered by a number of directors.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is Øvredal's second movie that I have seen, the first one being the gem of a mockumentary Troll Hunter (check out the review here). For those who enjoy found-footage films, I would definitely recommend it. Yes, it is just as weird and entertaining as the title suggests!