Movie: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

I'm lucky enough to live near a place that shows First Run movies in a cafe setting. It's called the Screening Room and it's attached to a mall, but it's in the back and has a separate entrance. The Screening Room is like a secret handshake. If you're in the know, you know where to find it. It's a hidden gem and I've been going there for almost 25 years. I have fond memories of watching A Clockwork Orange, Clerks, and Blow Up on a big screen~ for the first time~ in this intimate setting.

Recently they showed The Autopsy of Jane Doe. It was a random Tuesday night and I was ready to watch some horror. The movie was a pleasant surprise. In the first ten minutes the plot is revealed. In a normal horror movie you would think, "Well, I know what's going to happen-lots of jump scares and gruesome blood." This was the complete opposite. What I loved about it was the simplicity of the characters and setting.

Without giving too much away it's about a father and son that work in a mortuary that need to figure out how an unidentified woman died. The characters feel like real people and as they unearth hidden signs throughout the autopsy the audience discovers everything in real time, just as they are seeing it. You're really on the edge of your seat rooting for them to figure out the puzzle and to fight all the supernatural ghosts that come along for creepy scares. The whole thing takes place with two main actors (and the body) in a mortuary. That's it. And truly that's all you need for a horror story. The ending leaves you questioning whether the things they witnessed really happened. The story leaves it open for a sequel, which I'm excited to see. I hope they give more background of the history of the body, I want to know more! It was a refreshing original supernatural horror movie.

Here's the trailer: