“L’enfer, c’est les autres.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre in No Exit.
Making movies is a large endeavor. Outside of the requirement for a creative idea, you also need the time to cultivate it, the financing to fund it, and the team to make it a reality. The larger the project, the more complex it all becomes, but it’s still difficult to accomplish even as a small one. Filmmakers Polaris Banks (Casey Jones; Head Count) and Mor Cohen (Break for Lunch; Ocean’s Eight) appear to have found a way around this by (a) casting themselves in the majority of roles, (b) basing everything on themselves, and (c) shooting everything as a twosome. The resultant work, And Her Body Was Never Found, having its world premiere in the Vision section of SXSW Film & TV Festival 2026, is an absolute marvel and exhilarating addition to the meta cinema-cum-found footage subgenre of darkly comic thrillers as Banks and Cohen bend reality to their needs, taking audiences on a ride wherein one thing is certain: hell is other people.
L-R: Mor Cohen and Polaris Banks in AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND. Photo courtesy of Cave of Time Pictures,
Married couple Jeff and Keren (Banks and Cohen, respectively) are hiking in a remote wood when an argument starts and never ends. During a moment of reconciliation, Jeff appears to push Keren hard enough to send her over a cliff, causing an already-existing rift to grow further. Except Jeff isn’t really Jeff, he’s Polaris, and Keren is actually Mor, and they’re shooting a movie about a murderous couple. Unfortunately, reality starts to emulate art as distrust within the couple grows and violence erupts.
Front: Polaris Banks in AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND. Photo Credit: Polaris Banks. Photo courtesy of SXSW.
And Her Body Was Never Found (AHBWNF) is primarily a two-hander both in front of and behind the camera. Banks directs and acts while Cohen acts; both wrote the script; both handled the cinematography; though there are some areas in which Banks either took the lead himself or someone else handled. Largely, however, everything we see on screen is the result of the shared work that Banks and Cohen put in and, holy shit, does it set one on edge. Impressively, it’s not always for the reasons that one expects. The threats of violence are the obvious moments, but this being a horror thriller, those are somewhat expected. What’s not is the caustic dialogue between the pair that’s reminiscent of that toxic couple that continuously winds each other up, refusing to either give ground or acknowledge their own complicity. Even when the script tries to establish a legitimacy for why Keren/Mor may be more sensitive in Jeff/Polaris’s verbal sparring, the script also ensures that in either fictitious version of the couple, they’re both the absolute worst people and, the most terrible thing is that we find ourselves switching teams between who is the most not-terrible at any given moment. It’s an absolute credit to Banks and Cohen that not only does the dialogue ring true even at its most gas-lighty, the performances from the actors match. This results in scene work that’s terribly cringe-worthy, yet earnest in its sincerity — an aspect that makes the characters feel realized even as they comfortably manipulate the truth or, at the very least, don’t try to make amends when they realize that they actually did blow something out of proportion. Again, without the physical performances and vocal delivery from Banks and Cohen conveying the absence of personal responsibility, the whole of AHBWNF would exist within a specific domestic abuse subgenre; however, because of these moments, a bit of dark humor is inserted which shifts the entire production away from deep horror and into something more existential.
L-R: Polaris Banks and Mor Cohen in AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND. Photo courtesy of Cave of Time Pictures,
Taking out the meta-approach, there’s something quite chilling about AHBWNF. The cinematography shifts from something cinematic for the first 15 minutes or so into a handheld approach for the remainder, making a clear line between the film-within-the-film and the film proper. A relatively recent and strong example of this kind of delineation is the fabulous One Cut of the Dead (2017), minus the uncut first 30 minutes. Regardless of the aspect ratio, the cinematography captures both the beauty of nature, but also the couples’ isolation. They get extremely loud and abrasive in their dialogue and yet no one responds. They may as well be the only two souls in the area. This does generate a strong narrative tension and smart internal mechanism for needing cameras on as any recording is meant to serve as proof for guilt or innocence, but it also sets forth an undercurrent notion that these two are, for better or worse, stuck with each other. Doesn’t matter how big the dust-up, as long as one of them is breathing, they are tethered. Considering the use of cameras to make a record of words and deeds, they are tethered even in the afterlife (#LiterallyMyRelationship). In this way, Banks and Cohen present a film that’s positively devilish in the sense that the whole film can be viewed as a punishment upon them both. Who else would deal with such people that manipulate, distort, or otherwise weaponize their perspective in order to gain some perceived upper hand? The only time we get a perspective that primarily includes both parties is in the film-within-a-film portion, upon the ending of which, and switching to the found footage style, scenes end and begin with hard cuts to signify a camera turning on and off. While it’s narratively friendly to keep Polaris and Mor isolated from others so that the disquiet of their escalating feud can hit its explosive apex without concern of collateral damage, it also feels narratively important as an element of punishment. What is hell but being trapped with people you can’t stand. To that point, AHBWNF hits its comic highs with its meta-approach because what does success mean to filmmakers when all that they hope to have means being forever hitched to a person you’d rather fling from a cliff than spend another moment listening to?
Mor Cohen in AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND. Photo courtesy of Cave of Time Pictures,
There’re two things that’re absolutely certain, two proper kernels of truth in this high-wire act that Banks and Cohen present to us: they have incredible chemistry and, as a feature-film directorial debut, this has the goods. It’s smart, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s precise. The cringe that emanates from the characters is honest, their friction palatable, and the terror that’s created using simple blocking is magnificent. The way it riffs on filmmaking as a group process that can bring out the best and worst in people being nearly the same as the traits that make that one couple the absolute worst to be around. Polaris and Mor are vipers whose venom longs to course through your veins, yet deflect and cry victim the moment that some else dare bare their own. And Her Body Was Never Found is gawddamn delicious in its toxicity and, frankly, we’re all better off if these two stay together for the sake of all the healthy couples. With luck, the elements inspired by actual conversations between Banks and Cohen stay friendly so we can see what this couple crafts next.
Screening during SXSW Film & TV Festival 2026.
For more information, head to the official SXSW Film & TV Festival And Her Body Was Never Found webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
Leave a Reply