The Corpse of Anna Fritz (2015)

This tight little 76-minute Spanish indie thriller wastes no time plunging us into dark, uncomfortable territory. Set primarily within the cold, sterile confines of a hospital morgue, director Hèctor Hernández Vicens delivers an intense, claustrophobic thriller built around bad decisions and the catastrophic aftermath that follows.

When famous actress Anna Fritz suddenly dies, her body is brought to a city morgue awaiting an autopsy the following morning. Because she is so famous, nobody is supposed to know where the body is being kept, but word slips out - at least locally. That includes Javi and Ivan, two mates of Pau, the orderly working the late shift. Under the influence of recreational drugs, the pair talk Pau into letting them see her body.

Things then get out of hand. Encouraged by one of the friends in particular, they begin to wonder what else they can get away with - determined not to miss a 'golden opportunity' with someone so beautiful and famous. What starts as touching her body and marveling at the sheer absurdity of the situation quickly turns far darker as their impulses escalate.

Having made their choices and acted on them, a huge, unexpected turn of events completely upends the story. What began as a disturbing breach of privacy immediately spirals into the appalling fallout of their actions. Without giving away the central twist that arrives mid-film, this narrative pivot fundamentally reshapes the stakes. What follows is a relentless, edge-of-your-seat struggle where every attempted solution only deepens the characters' predicament. The film shifts gears seamlessly from a dark tale of moral decay into a tense, high-anxiety pressure cooker.

Despite the limited cast and single location, the performances carry the full weight of the suspense. Alba Ribas brings incredible vulnerability to the role of Anna the corpse, while the three male leads - Cristian Valencia, Bernat Saumell and Albert Carbó - are uncomfortably believable in their portrayals of mounting panic, paranoia and desperation. Their growing dread as they realise they cannot undo what they have done drives much of the film's frightening momentum.

While the narrative path following the twist occasionally treads familiar thriller territory, the brief runtime works entirely in its favour. There is no bloat - every scene makes things tighter and tighter!

Extremely dark in tone and unwavering in tension, The Corpse of Anna Fritz is a grim, absorbing and surprisingly effective indie thriller that makes every minute count. On the other hand, one could argue that the whole premise is a bit daft and ludicrously unlikely. But that's the joy of storytelling and cinema - escapism, tension and in this case, macabre fun! Highly recommended if you can track it down. If all else fails, there's BloodStreamTV - check it out - it's a bit like Shudder!