Leave it to pure independent cinema to remind us that there are still some new tricks up the old sleeve of cinema. The indy scene is where the biggest risks are still taken, and nothing is a bigger swing than And Her Body Was Never Found.

A truly singular film that, even drawing from inspirations like Blair Witch Project and Creep, isn’t anything like either of them. It’s singular enough to warrant the new nomenclature of ‘Relationship Horror,’ which is about as apropos as you can get in trying to describe And Her Body Was Never Found. I’m not even entirely sure everything works here, but it is certainly effective in creating a tense, uncomfortable atmosphere using nearly nothing and no one to do so.

And Her Body Was Never Found is completely made by and stars only two people: Mor Cohen and Polaris Banks. That’s it. That’s the entire cast and crew, with Cohen and Banks layering their film with a heavy dose of metatextual storytelling. Spoiling not only the twist but the overall construction of acts 2 and 3 would be a disservice as the film works best when you know next to nothing about it.

So let’s just say that And Her Body Was Never Found is about a toxic married couple who decide that the best idea for marriage counseling is to travel into the woods and go camping, completely isolated from the world so they can work out their own issues. All of the dialogue is largely pulled from real arguments shared by the real life couple (Cohen and Banks), and as their vitriol towards each other and deeper issues begin to take shape, things get more and more unhinged and dangerous.

Limitations Give Way to Creativity

There’s such creativity born from extremely limited resources, and Cohen and Banks prove that you actually CAN make a compelling film using nothing but the nature that surrounds you a few every day camera tricks. In a world of overblown budgets with less than stellar final products, And Her Body Was Never Found is a refreshing testament to what films can be when we give creatives a camera and the world at their fingertips to capture whatever they want.

The dialogue from real arguments gives the film a sense of grounding and a strong, extremely uncomfortable ‘I feel so seen’ quality to anyone who is either in or has been in a relationship. Good, bad or indifferent, even the most toxic relationship unfolding before our eyes reveals some truths buried in every relational dispute.

Cohen and Banks work well to blur the line between reality and storytelling, And Her Body Was Never Found keeping you guessing in more ways than one. The most prominent of which is the gaslighting and miscommunication that can manifest in even the most secure couples.

The film is at its best in its first act, when it’s just watching a couple fight as they traverse the trails and secluded woods. It’s like witnessing an extremely public argument between two strangers at the grocery store, but instead of snooping from the aisles and only getting a glimpse of their toxicity, we follow them and stay with them for as long as they’re fighting. And Her Body Was Never Found maintains this tension throughout, and while there’s not a whole lot that happens on the surface, there’s a well of relatability that seeps through.

Final Thoughts

Both Cohen and Banks are really good at hating each other, and the fallacy arguments and cyclical bickering become increasingly grating but purposefully so. It’s also sneakily funny, with both characters splicing in some clever jabs and jokes amid their venom spewing. I’d argue its finale is where it falters the most, that final meta layer feeling a little too winking and too knowing to feel completely satisfactory.

But despite a late stumble, And Her Body Was Never Found takes enough risks that reward to be worth taking the treacherous journey with our toxic couple. I don’t know how a distributor could possibly know what to do with And Her Body Was Never Found as I’m not entirely sold on its broad appeal prospects. But I do know that if this a start of a unique new branch from the tree of indie genre filmmaking, I’m on board for more Relationship Horror.

Let them fight.