Have you ever looked back on your arguments with your spouse or significant other and thought they would make a good screenplay? Not the kiss-and-make-up kind, but the ones where you retroactively realize you were in the wrong or it was just a situation where both of you were at your worst? I’m talking about the kind of arguments that aren’t easily forgotten, although possibly forgiven. These are moments that linger or scar your relationship. Ones you’d happily erase or re-do, if you could, rather than memorialize for all to see. It turns out real-life husband and wife, Polaris Banks and Mor Cohen, respectively, thought the exact opposite and decided to incorporate their own arguments into a film: starring, writing, and producing themselves, and shot and directed by Banks. The title, “And Her Body Was Never Found,” doesn’t bode well for the couple, especially the wife, played by Cohen.

The title also sounds like it could sit on a video store shelf from the 80s alongside the kind of horror flicks that came out a decade earlier, like “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” and “I Spit On Your Grave”. But this is not a horror movie, even though, at times, the sparse score by Nathan Schram aims to heighten viewers’ expectations for how the story will unfold. “And Her Body Was Never Found” is a meta-trauma of the relationship variety, and your mileage will vary depending on how comfortable you are watching One Argument After Another.

To be honest, that’s me. I get uncomfortable and feel awkward when I’m around an arguing couple. It doesn’t even have to be too intense or a shouting match; it could just be escalating passive-aggressive awfulness. Whether it’s relatives, friends, or people I couldn’t care less about. I don’t like seeing and hearing couples argue. Maybe it stems from hearing my parents argue so much when I was a kid, and hearing them yell and slam doors, which would typically end with my mom crying.

All that is to provide a preface and perhaps some context: I had some problems with this film.

Cinematographer Banks opens “And Her Body Was Never Found” on his wife’s jiggly breasts, or rather, her body. It turns out Cohen is jiggling because she’s jerking off her husband in the middle of a stream during wilderness daylight. We’ll soon learn the two are on a backpacking excursion with the goal of filming a movie starring themselves, specifically about their troubled relationship, but before that, Banks and Cohen want to catch our attention. Indeed, they succeed.

Don’t worry, prudes! The only nudity we see in this film is a male derrière; that’s it. At least that’s what I recall, which means the most memorable moments in the movie are the interactions between the two characters, and that’s the goal here.

Even in this opening scene, it’s clear these two have some communication or synchronization problems. Polaris is trying to let Mor know what he wants, while she is clearly not into it. On that note, unless there’s a good amount of foreplay involved, the act of jerking someone off has everything to do with the receiver rather than the giver. So, if both parties aren’t showing the same level of interest, the giver can feel like a worker, and that is often not very fun. It clearly isn’t for Mor, as she is becoming less and less interested the more she has to work to please him. Due to the cold water, Polaris is having a hard (heh heh) time climaxing, and the whole endeavor becomes less spontaneous when he “directs” her, especially when he laughably asks Mor to “present them to me”, referring to her breasts. This is clearly a situation where the guy has a certain expectation and vision (probably based on a consumption of online porn) that is not aligned with his wife’s.

The whole opening feels relatable (perhaps too close to home for some), from the awkwardness of their activity to their communication, both what is said and unsaid. It’s an example of what’s wrong in their relationship that will serve as the impetus for the rest of the arguments we see unfold.

The rest of the film follows the couple as they hike and continue searching for prime shooting locations. As they carry camping gear and a few filming supplies, it becomes clear that the idea for this endeavor came mostly from Polaris. He’s finicky, stubborn, and often determined to be right, which is communicated through a variety of microaggressions, including sarcasm, gaslighting, and insinuated blame. Mor would rather just ignore it all, but since many of his arguments and complaints are directed at her (there’s no one else around and no one else involved), she has to speak up. When she does, it’s usually from a place of annoyance and exasperation. Some of her response is understandable, and although she’d rather not keep arguing, she’s also not going to tolerate being gaslit or misunderstood. Much of “And Her Body Was Never Found” goes from one trigger after another, with the two knowing exactly how and when to push each other’s buttons.

While Banks and Cohen are convincing in their arguments, it doesn’t take long for the whole thing to become an exercise in audience tolerance. For me, and maybe this was due to my aforementioned aversion to other people’s arguments, it became increasingly difficult to get through this as it unfolded. At least the environment they are arguing in is quite picturesque.

The feature is at its height when it’s implied that one of them is trying to kill the other. While the title would make it seem obvious that he’s the one trying to kill her, whether or not he’s really doing that isn’t so obvious. There are also definitely moments when Mor has had enough and flips our expectations, but honestly, I would’ve been fine if both of them were mauled by a bear. There is no evidence that either of them is truly in love or ever was, despite Polaris’s unconvincing attempts to apologize and make amends.

The final moments of “And Her Body Was Never Found” are where the film ultimately lost me. This is where the couple appears together for an interview junket for their finished product, which is a supposed variation of this film. It’s a ripcord moment where they’re being interviewed by real-life host/journalist/film critic Grae Drake (as seen on Rotten Tomatoes, CNN, ABC, Fandango, and CBR) in which the couple “seem” fine, but we know better. Drake’s inclusion takes us out of what was essentially a two-fer from the start of the film. This is the kind of film that would’ve benefited from an ambiguous ending.

RATING: **