Film Review: AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND: A Cleverly Written, If Sometimes Frustrating, Look at Two Lovers Quarreling [SXSW 2026]

And Her Body Was Never Found Review

And Her Body Was Never Found (2026) Film Review from the 33rd Annual South by South West Film Festival, a movie directed by Polaris Banks, written by Mor Cohen and Polaris Banks and starring Mor Cohen, Polaris Banks and Grae Drake.

Filmmaker Polaris Banks’s dark love story, And Her Body Was Never Found, is a minimalist, experimental production with more than a fair share of frank dialogue and tremendously ambitious scenes. There are the intriguing arguments of a pair of romantic lovers named Jeff (Banks, himself) and Keren (Mor Cohen, who also co-wrote this picture), which shape the core of the story here. Jeff and Keren are the only two people in the movie, more or less, and find themselves camping together and re-evaluating their relationship in very complex ways.

And Her Body Was Never Found opens with Keren giving Jeff a hand job by the water. Jeff is very demanding, but accepts that this is the best Keren will do for him right now in terms of sex. It’s a humorous, if a tad over done, bit to kick a movie off which basically consists of two people arguing in a way reminiscent of what would happen if a romantic comedy was crossed with 1999’s micro-budgeted, The Blair Witch Project. There are more than a few nods to the 1999 horror picture, one in which Keren speaks directly to the audience while talking about how she is going to die alone in the woods as her food is running out – she has just an orange and some potatoes left. Cohen is terrific and full of emotions in that scene late in the picture and, overall, she is the one that the audience may feel like rooting for more.

Nobody will care much for Jeff as a character as he keeps saying condescending things to Keren about how she only remembers certain things and how she isn’t sufficient as a romantic partner. Jeff mocks her for much of the film and one can’t help but feel sorry for Keren as she endures something along the lines of verbal abuse even if she sometimes says some piercing things that hit Jeff hard too.

One scene is particularly effective as Jeff comes running at the camera with a rock as if he’s prepared to smash Keren over the head. There’s something off about Jeff as he constantly shows little sympathy towards Keren as he has no hesitations about leaving her stranded to die on her own or find her own way home – whichever comes first. A movie about two campers quarreling in the woods is certainly an interesting concept and this new picture And Her Body Was Never Found milks it for all it’s worth.

This new picture was said to be “made” by only the two lead performers and that is definitely a fascinating fact. Most of it was made without much of an outside crew and that tidbit alone makes it a true candidate for accolades. Cohen’s performance is raw and believable while Cohen truly brings her character to a boil with all the frustration her character experiences due to Jeff’s insensitivity and nastiness. It’s not that Jeff never makes a valid point or two along the way, but he crushes Keren’s soul and that pushes her to the brink of her sanity.

Banks’s performance is also impressive, given the audacity of the harsh words he leashes upon Keren over the course of the picture. For a film that runs just one and a quarter hours, Banks really knows how to keep the viewer watching as the arguments get more heated and the stakes get higher and higher with each passing scene. There are interesting choices sprinkled in at given intervals and one late scene where their dialogue is revealed through captions rather than words is an effective choice.

And Her Body Was Never Found has elements of comedy and horror, but it’s hard to pigeonhole it into a distinct category or genre. It exists as it does and makes a solid case for more filmmakers to take risks with their stories and ideas instead of conforming to the ideals that movies (both independent and mainstream) usually settle for. Banks’s new indie movie will disturb and entertain viewers, simultaneously. Both performers at the center of the movie put a lot of their emotions into their roles which make their work so enjoyable to watch even if at the end, there is a twist that doesn’t really work as well as it should. Still, this is an ambitious effort that deserves your attention.

Rating: 7/10

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