Quick Info
If you like your horror dark, claustrophobic, and genuinely unsettling, “The Autopsy of Jane Doe” is a creepy little gem that mostly flew under the radar. It’s about a father-son team of coroners (played perfectly by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch) who are working late one night to examine an unidentified woman’s corpse. The autopsy quickly devolves from routine to bizarre as they discover impossible injuries and eerie clues inside the body that make them—and you—question what’s really going on.
What really stands out in this movie is the slow-burn tension and the way director André Øvredal uses the single location of the morgue to maximum effect. The sense of dread just keeps ratcheting up, and there are some truly hair-raising set pieces involving both supernatural scares and the gruesome, clinical details of autopsy work. There isn’t a ton of gore, but every sound and shadow is perfectly placed, and the movie gets under your skin with understated, confident horror instead of cheap jump scares.
The ending might be a little divisive—some people find it a touch too ambiguous, while others appreciate that it doesn’t over-explain itself. For me, the atmospheric buildup more than makes up for any narrative vagueness. If you’re into psychological/supernatural horror that’s less about big effects and more about mood and mystery, this is a tense, chilly watch worth seeking out.
