The Trouble with Jessica Review: Mind the Body

Matt Winn’s The Trouble with Jessica is an entertaining yet uneven dark comedy with farcical elements and solid performances.

The Trouble with Jessica is never boring, but it can be a bit too ridiculous at times, with Winn and his team having trouble combining the comedy with the drama; the serious topics with the over-the-top situations.

As the movie begins, we see a middle class couple from North London, American Tom (the great Alan Tudyk, of A Knight’s Tale, Rogue One and many more) and Sarah (Shirley Henderson, of the Harry Potter films and The Rise of Skywalker) waiting for their friends to arrive at their home for dinner. He’s an apparently successful architect, and she’s a no-nonsense woman who sometimes helps others with their finances. And when their friends, Beth (Olivia Williams, of The Sixth Sense and An Education) and her husband, lawyer Richard (Rufus Sewell, of Dark City and, once again, A Knight’s Tale) arrive, they bring someone with them: unstable Jessica (of Rome and Obi-Wan Kenobi), who’s enjoying the success of her recently-published autobiographical book.

Nevertheless, the woman means trouble (heh). She keeps flirting with Tom in front of his wife, and spouts whatever is on her mind without thinking of the consequences of her words. But things eventually get worse: the two couples get distracted, so she goes to the backyard and hangs herself. Devastated, the others must decide on how they will handle this terrible event. After all, Tom and Sarah are looking to sell their house, the former being almost bankrupt. And although Richard and Beth understand this, the latter doesn’t feel comfortable hiding the fact that their friend took her own life only a few metres from them… at least initially.

The Trouble with Jessica is clearly divided into two parts, although it’s also made up of very distinct chapters, all featuring titles that begin with the phrase The Trouble With… In any case, the first part of the story, which comprises three of said chapters, takes place inside the house, feeling almost like a chamber piece or a story based on a play. The scene before the title screen, in which character relationships are established and Jessica commits suicide, is the weaker part of the film. Dialogue feels spotty, there’s a bunch of weird continuity errors, especially when it comes to syncing dialogue with mouth movements, and some of the actors look a bit uncomfortable.

Things improve, though, after the title screen, with the characters trying to solve their predicament. The conflict between the two couples is made immediately clear, the characterisations help the viewer understand each of their viewpoints, and thus, their reactions to Jessica’s death. Sarah is the coldest of the bunch, realising almost immediately that they cannot call the police (even though they ultimately do arrive). Beth is the panicky one, having more of a moral compass, horrified by the others’ choices. Richard is a realist, being a lawyer who works defending rapists in court cases. And Tom looks confused most of the time, allowing his wife to make the majority of the important decisions.

The characters aren’t particularly complex, but having a talented cast helps make them feel more human. The standouts are Rufus Sewell, a terribly underrated character actor who breathes life into a man who manages to keep some secrets from his wife and friends, and Indira Varma, who, despite having very little screen time, leaves a big impression as the titular Jessica. The rest aren’t bad, but their performances seem broader and less believable. Shirley Henderson struggles with Sarah’s changes of opinion, and Alan Tudyk does what he can with a somewhat underwritten part. We also get appearances by Anne Reid (of Hot Fuzz) as a noisy neighbour, Sylvester Groth (of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) as the millionaire buyer of Tom and Sarah’s house, and Amber Rose Revah (of Marvel’s The Punisher) as his wife.

Now, since I assume Winn and co-writer James Handel didn’t want The Trouble with Jessica to completely feel like the cinematic adaptation of a play, the second part of their story actually takes place outside the house. Taking a cue from Weekend at Bernie’s, the characters have to try and take Jessica to her flat without anyone suspecting that she’s dead. Even though this is the more farcical and absurd section of the film – something that’s emphasised by Matt Cooper and Winn’s jazzy and wacky score – it’s also the funniest, and the one that has less of an uneven tone. Seeing these characters having to deal with the consequences of their choices is entertaining, even if the police officers’ role in the whole affair doesn’t feel believable at all.

The Trouble with Jessica is the kind of independent production that many inexperienced directors get wrong: a dialogue-heavy dark comedy that deals with death and includes many surprising twists. The movie is shot very traditionally, with a camera that barely moves, and it includes a couple of editing and dialogue-syncing errors, especially at the start. But it manages to compensate for these mistakes with solid performances, some hilarious jokes, and an overall story that feels unpredictable, absurd, poignant and affecting. The trouble with The Trouble with Jessica is that it could have been better, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch anyway.

The Trouble with Jessica will be released in US theatres on April 25, 2025. The film is now available to stream on Netflix and on digital platforms in the UK & Ireland and more countries.