The Body () is a 2012 Spanish psychological thriller film directed by Oriol Paulo, starring José Coronado, Hugo Silva and Belén Rueda. The plot unfolds the events surrounding the disappearance of a female body (Rueda) from a morgue as the widower (Silva) and an inspector (Coronado) join forces to unravel the mystery.
The screenplay was penned by Paulo alongside Lara Sendim. The film was produced by JoaquÃÂn Padró, Mar Targarona, Mercedes Gamero, and Mikel Lejarza for Rodar y Rodar, Antena 3 Films, TVC and Canal+.
The film has been remade in multiple countries.
Inspector Jaime Peña investigates an accident that has left the morgue's night watchman ÃÂngel Torres in a coma. Security footage reveals ÃÂngel fleeing from his post before being struck by a car. Peña learns that the body of a woman, Mayka Villaverde, is missing. Mayka, a wealthy middle-aged businesswoman, was married to ÃÂlex Ulloa, a younger man, and suffered a heart attack following a business trip.
ÃÂlex hears the news while with his mistress, Carla Miller, and assures her that Mayka is dead. At the morgue, ÃÂlex tells the coroner about Mayka's medical history. Peña is convinced someone stole the body to avoid an autopsy and is suspicious of ÃÂlex, who Peña feels too easily speaks of his wife in the past tense. Peña, conversely, still speaks of his wife Ruth, who died 10 years ago in a car accident, in the present tense.
ÃÂlex hears a loud noise and discovers a busted locker containing a bottle labeled THâÂÂ16. It is revealed he put the contents of the exact bottle into Mayka's wine earlier in the day. Peña informs ÃÂlex that Mayka's cell phone is missing. Caught with the bottle, ÃÂlex admits it is a toxin manufactured by Mayka's pharmaceutical company, but denies knowing what it does.
More strange events occur at the morgue that seems to target ÃÂlex and Carla, convincing ÃÂlex that Mayka is still alive and seeking revenge for his affair and murder plot. ÃÂlex discovers Mayka hired a private investigator, as she suspected his affair, and had also heard him plotting death. ÃÂlex started confessing to Peña. He admits lacing her wine with THâÂÂ16, which causes a heart attack after eight hours and leaves no trace in the blood. He is convinced Mayka did not drink the wine and faked her death with a tranquilizer.
The police discover incriminating evidence at ÃÂlex and Mayka's house, including a map of the morgue. ÃÂngel wakes up from his coma and reveals that after hearing a noise, he saw Mayka's body in the elevator before a figure in a balaclava fired a gun at him, sending him running into the street. ÃÂlex insists Mayka is alive and has the means to disappear and that Carla is in danger. Peña informs him they have no evidence Carla Miller exists and that the address he gave for Carla's apartment has been empty for years.
While transporting ÃÂlex, the police discover a body in the woods, which turns out to be Mayka's. ÃÂlex flees into the woods and collapses, as Peña closes in on him. Peña tells ÃÂlex his wife could have been saved if the other driver, who caused the collision, had called for help instead of fleeing. Peña recalls him and his daughter Eva watching helplessly as Ruth died. Following clues that Eva recalls, Peña learned it was ÃÂlex and Mayka who had fled the scene and left Ruth to die.
Peña then shows ÃÂlex a photo of his daughter Eva: Carla Miller. It was Peña and Eva who had taken Mayka's body and conspired to frame him. Eva initially wasn't convinced of their guilt until ÃÂlex himself confided to her that he caused the hit-and-run. ÃÂlex, now gasping to breathe, learns that eight hours earlier, Eva had dosed him with THâÂÂ16, and his death will be explained as a heart attack brought on by stress.
The film was presented as the opening film of the 45th Sitges Film Festival in October 2012. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing de España, it was released theatrically in Spain on 21 December 2012.
Roger Moore of Movie Nation gave it 3 out of 4 and called it "A lean, moody and superior horror thriller from Spain."
|- | rowspan = "1" | | rowspan = "1" | 27th Goya Awards || Best New Director || Oriol Paulo || || rowspan = "1" | |- | rowspan = "4" | | 19th Forqué Awards || colspan = "2" | Best Film || || |- | rowspan = "3" | 6th GaudàAwards || colspan = "2" | Best Non-Catalan Language Film || || rowspan = "3" | |- | Best Sound || Albert Manera, Oriol Tarragó, David Calleja || |- | Best Special/Visual Effects || LluÃÂs Castells, LluÃÂs Rivera, David MartÃÂ, Montse Ribé ||
The film was unofficially remade into a Tamil-Kannada bilingual movie Game in 2016. A Korean remake titled The Vanished was released on 7 March 2018. The film was remade in 2019 in Hindi under the same title by Jeethu Joseph, in his directorial debut in Hindi, with Rishi Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi, and Sobhita Dhulipala in the lead. An Italian remake, called Il corpo, was released in Italian cinemas on 28 November 2024, and in Indonesia, a remake called Dendam Malam Kelam (English title: Vengeance in the Dreary Night) was released on May 2025, featuring Indonesian actors Arya Saloka and Marissa Anita as well as Malaysian actor Bront Palarae.