The Corpse of Anna Fritz

The Corpse of Anna Fritz follows three friends (Cristian Valencia’s Iván, Albert Carbó’s Pau, and Bernat Saumell’s Javi) as they sneak into a hospital morgue and discover the recently-deceased body of a famous actress (Alba Ribas’ Anna Fritz), with the revelation that the title character is actually still alive putting quite the damper on the guys’ rather illicit plans for the evening. It’s as unique a premise as one can easily recall and yet The Corpse of Anna Fritz remains unable to wholeheartedly capture one’s interest for the duration of its brief running time, as filmmaker Hèctor Hernández Vicens generally struggles to justify the movie’s feature-length treatment – which manifests itself in an often unreasonably deliberate pace and smattering of time-wasting sequences and interludes. (There is, for example, an interminable scene wherein Ribas’ resurrected figure attempts to crawl her way to safety.) Vicens’ filmed-play approach exacerbates the less-than-engrossing vibe, to be sure, although it’s admittedly worth noting that The Corpse of Anna Fritz is quite well made and the various performances are all much better than one might’ve expected. It does seem, ultimately, that Vicens and coscreenwriter Isaac P. Creus are relying mostly on the admittedly risque setup to carry the proceedings, and there’s little doubt that The Corpse of Anna Fritz isn’t, for the most part, able to make the grim, suspenseful impact that one might’ve anticipated.

** out of ****