The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - A Macabre Exercise in Atmosphere

"Everybody has a secret. Some just hide them better than others."

Coroners engage in a deathly business. It's one we all inherently understand to be necessary but probably fail to properly recognize with the respect and admiration that practitioners of this grave vocation are due. The Autopsy of Jane Doe puts these intestinally sturdy squires of the dead firmly in focus in a manner rarely seen on the silver screen.

Once you get past the grisly brutality intrinsic to an occupation that's primary practice is carving up corpses, the duties of the coroner become something of a morbid puzzle, even a game, one that just so happens to be marvelously conducive for a compelling cinematic narrative.

The Tildens, a father and son coroner duo, are about as proficient a pair of professionals as you'll find. They play the game well. They know how to detach themselves from the callous, graphic nature of their work, one of the essential rules at play here. When the sheriff wheels in a hunk of formerly human flesh that's been freshly picked from a fatal crime scene, they know how to determine cause of death with a swish and flick of the scalpel and a little scientific wizardry.

Their whole conception of the medical examination practice is turned squarely upside down when they are presented with the mysterious body of a Jane Doe, a corpse with no signs of trauma, no visible abrasions, no real indication that it's even a corpse. The patriarchal figure of the familial pair, who's accrued considerably more experience in the field than his son, writes off the strangely preserved nature of Jane Doe's body as a sign that she died relatively recently. As the two gradually explore and uncover the finer details of the corpse before them, the body's bizarre features become increasingly difficult to explain away until it eventually becomes clear that there is something other than a routine autopsy going down in the Tildens' morgue.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe does a masterful job of patiently building an air of uneasiness and tension. Almost the entire film takes place in the basement of the morgue, much of it within the examination room, and as such there is a sense of claustrophobia that only augments the unsettling tone created by subtle but effectively creepy production design and an eerie ambience, all of which is compounded by the disturbing nature of the coroners' work. The entire first act is dedicated to conjuring this eldritch timbre. The movie undeniably earns our investment.

The latter stages of the film set their sights on slightly more ambitious prospects, and it was at this point in the proceedings that I found The Autopsy of Jane Doe to be decidedly less interesting. The performances from Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch are very strong, and the atmosphere remains definitively disquieting throughout the 86 minute run time. However, there is an inflection point in the narrative after which the movie becomes far more akin to a generic Hollywood jump scare fest than the meticulous psychological thriller it started off as.

The plot eventually twists and turns in its final act, and while the revelations were admittedly pretty compelling, they are presented to the audience in a ham-fisted, exposition-heavy fashion. That's always a no-no for me.

Nevertheless, this is ultimately a really cool indie horror flick, one that overcomes its uneven nature with some solid writing, great performances, and an exceptionally chilly atmosphere. It's definitely worth checking out, not only for the macabre aura it exudes, but also for its intriguing and unique subject matter. Who knew coroners were rife with such storytelling potential?

B

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