

The Autopsy of Jane Doe
2016
André Øvredal
Review Date: September 22, 2025
5
Mediocre
Letterboxd Review:
I haven’t seen many horror movies, and to be honest, very few of them have made me uncomfortable or “scared.” Credit where credit is due, despite not thinking this movie was that great overall, there were actually moments where I started to feel a little uneasy and on the edge of my seat. I don’t think the story was any good at all, but the horror elements were done surprisingly well for the most part. Even before the actual story kicks into place, the movie does a great job of making you feel off just by the atmosphere itself. Most of it is set in a basement morgue, and obviously, that in and of itself is an uncomfortable setting to be in, let alone just a movie.
The directing and acting are nothing to write home about, but they do the job. I think the actors were believable, and the way the horror stuff was shot was well done for making the movie scarier than it would be otherwise. What really made the movie uncomfortable for me to watch, though, was the imagery. None of the jump scares or anything like that got me, but the “images” (trying not to get real specific) in the morgue and the morgue itself made for a really eerie experience. I think the practical effects were extremely well done if I’m being a little more specific.
There is a father-son dynamic throughout the movie, and I definitely liked it, but I think there could have been a little more to it. There is a backstory to their family that definitely could have been explored a little more. However, the camaraderie between them was pretty good and made the film entertaining. Though where their stories go in the third act was a little too bonkers in my opinion.
The story was definitely where it felt short for me. It’s eighty-six minutes long, which is very fair for a movie with this concept, but it doesn’t exactly give enough time to develop characters or the story itself, which leads to unsatisfying scenes towards the end that don’t hit with as hard an impact as they should. Specifically, there are emotional payoffs that kind of come out of nowhere. Some of them even made me giggle a little bit at how poor the execution was.
Towards the end, there is also some satanic stuff that I really wasn’t a fan of. It doesn’t go too far, but it didn’t really need to be in there, and didn’t add much to the story at all. It removes the mystery behind what’s really going on, and I think the film would have honestly worked much better without any real clear answers. I think not answering some of the mystery behind everything would have made for a movie that stuck with me more after watching it.
I don’t know; I don’t really have much of anything else to say about this movie. It had a pretty poor script, but surprisingly decent scares that made for a fine but otherwise forgettable watch.
Content: Should be R
Intense Stuff: 8/10
Language: 7/10
Sex and Nudity: 7/10
Violence and Gore: 9/10