As Emma Roberts visits her boyfriend Austin Tilden at his father’s mortuary, the local Sheriff Burke arrives with a body of a Jane Doe previously discovered at the scene of inexplicable multiple homicides. Sheriff Burke leaves the corpse with Tommy stating he needs the cause of death identified by morning, Austin tells Emma he will have to postpone their date to help his father, Tommy, with the Autopsy. Early into the autopsy Tommy and Austin are at a loss as they discover no externally visible signs of trauma but the bones in the wrist and ankles of the corpse are completely shattered while her tongue has been cut out. Upon further investigation they also discover a tooth has been ripped from her mouth, her lungs are charred, and her internal organs possess numerous cuts and scarring. As the autopsy continues to discover conflicting oddities throughout the night the father and son begin to discover they are not alone in the mortuary as mysterious events begin to occur. The radio begins to surf around frequencies, and Austin sees someone in the hallway of the morgue before discovering the family cat mortally wounded. As the duo continues to try and preserver through the work they are quickly met with an escalation of the supernatural phenomenon that ensures this night shift will be one to remember.
While plenty of films in the genre capture tension and gore, it’s rare to see a film that successfully conveys the family connection of characters in a believable dialog and chemistry. The film is filmed almost exclusively inside the small family-owned mortuary but never feels confined by its setting, instead, it grows and makes full use of the scenery provided and the innate feeling of unease a mortuary exudes. As the night goes on and the stakes grow ever higher Øvredal’s direction succeeds masterfully at an air of absolute tension that builds slowly but surely never letting you go once it latches on.
As always, if you’ve seen the listed film, dislike the film, or just don’t believe you would like it we have provided a list of alternative choices for you to pick from: alternative-films-for-this-spooky-season
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