The Autopsy Of Jane Doe

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Andre Ovredal

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox, Ophelia Lovibond, Michael McElhatton, Olwen Catherine Kelly

From: Several UK companies

This is a horror film that's gotten a lot of praise as of late, so I rented it last night. I say it is worthy of the attention. I explain why below: 

I feel it's important to start off this review with a warning: if you decide to rent the film from Amazon, try your best not to read the plot description they have provided for the film. Regrettably, it's a situation where it reveals too much about the movie. What a rotten thing to do for all the people who haven't seen the motion picture yet, which will be “most people.”

On Letterboxd and elsewhere I saw a lot of praise for this picture. I figured it was worth spending a few extra bucks to rent it and stream it right away. Thankfully this was a good decision on my part. As I've seen said elsewhere, various low-budget horror films of the past 5 or so years are relegated to VOD and yet (apparently) atrocious “masterpieces” like Incarnate and The Bye Bye Man get wide releases... what a shame. I imagine horror would have a better reputation if it was the other way around.

I know better and unlike Amazon I'll be vague in the plot description and won't let any big plot points slip: Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch are not only father and son, but both are coroners. They receive a Jane Doe for autopsy; Jane and John Doe are the official designations by law enforcement for suspects or corpses which at the time have an unknown identity. Odd things start to happen as they do the autopsy, and I'll leave it at that.

I can say that I never wanted to be a coroner; it's not the type of job for me. Cutting open corpses like that, no thank you. I am glad that the actual autopsy stuff was to the point and did not revel in being over the top gross. Cox and Hirsch made for a nice team. Aside from the good performances, they were a nice father and son who weren't cliché; they had their disagreements but it wasn't the “I hate you, dad!” or overdramtic silliness you get too often in movies. In addition, I should mention that Olwen Catherine Kelly does a swell job as the corpse Jane Doe. That is not a backhanded compliment, by the way.


I saw director Andre Ovredal's previous movie Trollhunter and that was an enjoyable found footage movie. This is definitely different. The setting is naturally creepy as it is and with what happens, it becomes pretty terrifying. There are effective scares throughout, even though it is a tale of two different halves and I understand those who did not like the second half as much, what the source of everything is, or the ending. I am not sure myself if the movie quite stuck the landing as well as it should have. Even if it didn't, I still say that this is worthy of having the attention of all horror fans, and they should at least give it a shot. By all accounts, this deserves people's attention more than laughable dreck like The Bye Bye Man does.