Review of The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) by Dirigiblepulp — 05 Dec 2017

Day 24: Morgue fest continues, this time with one that comes somewhat touted and recommended.

Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox make up the cast and they're both good dependable co-leads. This film begins with a nearly suffocating claustrophobic atmosphere, one in which the outside world can't possibly exist and there's only the starkly lit mildewy wooden paneled interior of an old family morgue. The mystery mounts and the two leads examine an inexplicable body, one in which they can't find a cause of death. The body is untouched and yet her insides show unbelievable trauma.

The mounting atmosphere and tension of the first half is unfortunately mishandled in the second half. The film becomes a rather bare-bones spooky jump scare exercise that leads to a shocking revelation that really does deliver (it's genuinely intriguing and so much more could have been done with it) on the first half's tension. There's no follow through.

There are great ideas here but a lack of focus in the middle, or maybe a fear that if jumps in the night didn't start happening soon the audience would get bored. It's the complete opposite.