'And Her Body Was Never Found' Review
- John Odette
- 24 hours ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: --/--/-- [Festival Run]
Genre: Comedy. Drama. Horror. Thriller.
MPAA: Not Rated.
The Verdict: A Must-See
The indie film And Her Body Was Never Found opens with a scene in which a wife, unenthusiastically, gives her husband a hand job in the middle of a creek. This scene, written and performed as a comedic opening, is emblematic of the couple’s strife. The passion, sparks, and trust have all but vanished. All that’s left is unhappiness masked by smiles, yet exacerbated by continuous quarrelling.
The couple, Mor Cohen and Polaris Banks, is struggling to keep their relationship together. Fun, exciting moments like hand jobs during an outdoor adventure become tedious and desperate for a couple that trips over logic in their effort to out-argue each other.
They have not been happy for a long time. Their decision to go camping alone, shoot a film during their trip, and use their own relationship weak spots as inspiration to grow stronger is ambitious, and perhaps, quite deadly.
Banks directs this meta-horror/comedy/thriller against gorgeous visuals in the Washington wilderness. The opening text tells us that this film was made by only two people. (There were actually additional crew on standby for loading, carrying, and medical needs, too.) This prompt serves the narrative of the story at hand. We are meant to feel like Mor and Polaris: isolated, afraid, and suspicious of what comes next.
The concept of the “alpine divorce,” in which a husband leaves his partner in the woods during a hiking expedition, has slowly entered the lexicon. Banks’ film explores this idea, with the couple escalating their fighting and verbal sparring, increasing anxiety, and raising the stakes further as virtually all their spat is being recorded by their cinematic camera or smartphones.
There is something to admire about a couple willing to go to such lengths to ostensibly fix their problems, but that jubilee becomes dread when the only option at the end of the trip is final separation.
Many, many moments of the couple fighting will be uncomfortable for many viewers. Such is the nature of indie filmmaking. Not beholden to toe the line for a studio mandate or to appease the economic market, this raw portrait of two people crumbling apart and contemplating the impossible is best explored when the storyteller has nothing to lose.
There is a universal nature at play here, a linguistic knife thrust that will be felt by those who have endured emotional abuse. This film is harsh and reflective; it’s like a gun pointed at your chest or a rock aimed for your head. Watch your step.
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