Editor’s Note: The following contains descriptions of self-harm that some readers may find disturbing.The Trouble with Jessica sees a seemingly ordinary dinner party go awry, but not in the average ways one might expect. While some gatherings might have unfortunate side effects, such as an argument over food quality or a debate about politics, the dinner party that’s hosted in director Matt Winn’s latest feature film leaves a dead body in its wake. The timing of this corpse’s appearance could not have been worse for the party’s hosts.
The Trouble with Jessica is a dark comedy through and through. The darkness is undoubtedly present, and the comedic talent of the ensemble cast does shine through at points. Unfortunately, The Trouble with Jessica struggles with a predictable plot, some obnoxious editing choices, and themes that ultimately trivialize issues as serious as mental health and depression.
What Is ‘The Trouble With Jessica’ About?

Image via Parkland Pictures

Sarah (Shirley Henderson) and her husband Tom (Alan Tudyk) are hosting a get-together with their old friends from college, despite them currently dealing with some severe and debilitating financial problems, leading them to try and sell their beloved home. They hope to find some reprieve from that stress by spending time with their friends, Beth (Olivia Williams) and Richard (Rufus Sewell), but Sarah is dismayed to learn that the other couple is bringing with them another college friend of theirs, Jessica (Indira Varma). Sarah is not fond of Jessica’s charismatic and flirtatious attitude, thinking it’s inappropriate for a woman her age to still act like she’s in college. As tensions rise at the table, Jessica excuses herself from the table, only to shockingly take her own life in the backyard. The obvious answer would be to call the police, but Sarah is concerned that doing so would jeopardize their house being sold. After some arguing and emotional blackmail, the house guests hatch a plan to get Jessica out of their home.
A Charismatic Cast Carries ‘The Trouble with Jessica’

Easily the most significant strength of The Trouble with Jessica is its electric ensemble cast, primarily the four prominent house guests grappling with Jessica’s death. The closest the group of four has to a main character is Sarah, and Shirley Henderson’s performance adds a lot of meaningful weight to her paramount importance to the plot. She’s also the only character in the film who undergoes any meaningful evolution and character growth, with her feelings for Jessica growing more and more complicated as the film continues. The character’s dominant and assertive attitude contrasts nicely with her more reserved and passive husband, Tom, into whom Alan Tudyk injects a solid level of humanity. Tudyk’s strong performance in The Trouble with Jessica is a lovely, subtle reminder that his range as an actor goes well beyond his comic relief sidekick roles.
Also great in the movie are the two other dinner guests, Beth and Richard. Beth seems to be the person most appalled by the actions and motions recommended by the rest of the group, and that outrage comes through with a passionate performance from Olivia Williams. Again, this contrasts very well with her polar-opposite husband, whose career as a lawyer has made him an expert in lies and deception. It almost seems unfortunate that Richard Sewell seems to be consistently typecast as “the jerk” in every movie he’s in, but he plays the archetype so well that it comes across as a gift and a curse. Despite being arguably the most morally objectionable person in the film, Richard is the source of some of the movie’s best comedic beats.
Then there is Jessica, who, as you can probably imagine, is not prominent in the movie. Indira Varma also gives a compelling portrayal as the flirtatious guest. Despite this, even in the brief moments where we as an audience get to spend time with her, we don’t learn nearly enough about a seemingly very important figure. The rest of the supporting cast is also rock solid, with other memorable standouts being Sylvester Groth as a slimy businessperson and Jonathan Livingstone as a skeptical police officer. The entire cast as a whole is great, which is why it’s even more disappointing that they don’t have a better story to work with.
The Plot of ‘The Trouble with Jessica’ is Predictable at Best and Insulting at Worst

Similar to other dinner party death stories like Clue, The Trouble with Jessica still relies on that genre’s clichés and tropes. The moment the quartet of protagonists decides to keep Jessica’s death a secret, the predictable plots and beats start coming through. Moving the body to various locations, uninvited guests coming over to make things complicated, Jessica’s deceased body getting caught up in various darkly comedic circumstances. These are all things we’ve seen before, and The Trouble with Jessica does little to innovate apart from using an overused running gag about a clafoutis.
The one thing that could make The Trouble with Jessica unique among other similar films is that the film’s cadaver took their own life instead of being murdered by a mysterious house guest. Unfortunately, the film only takes a very surface-level look at the complex issue that is suicide. Instead of offering any sort of insight or nuance into a topic that affects millions of people every day in the U.S. alone, The Trouble with Jessica, frankly, treats suicide and self-harm as a joke. Even the exact moment Jessica takes her own life is treated as if it were a hilarious sequence, with glaringly obnoxious jazz music to boot. That’s not to say that concepts like The Trouble with Jessica couldn’t work in a comedic setting, but it certainly needs to bring more to the table than this.
Ultimately, Jessica’s death is treated more as a nuisance than as a tragedy by her so-called friends, which also is not a great depiction of a serious topic. Just when it looks like The Trouble with Jessica is about to showcase the seriousness of the said issue, the movie fumbles it with a bizarre and out-of-place happy ending. An ending that doesn’t feel remotely earned or satisfying in the context of the rest of the plot. The Trouble of Jessica also suffers from a few technical issues, such as some very obvious dubbing and a distracting musical score.
‘The Trouble With Jessica’ is a More Poorly Conceived Version of ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’

Image via Parkland Pictures

Given The Trouble with Jessica’s premise, the film will likely draw many comparisons to the 1989 cult comedy Weekend at Bernie’s, which also follows a group of protagonists trying to cover up a dead body. The film is far from high art, but it somehow tackles the comedic beats and subject that The Trouble with Jessica tries to achieve much more effectively. The Bernie (Terry Kiser) of Weekend at Bernie’s was an evil individual who gets killed by a hitman after trying to get two other innocent people killed, making the crazy circumstances his dead body not feel as grotesque. Not only is Jessica in The Trouble with Jessica not a horrible person in any sense, but the circumstances of her death are unbelievably tragic and upsetting.
Again, under the right circumstances, the story that The Trouble with Jessica tries to tell could work if it paired its comedy with a meaningful perspective on depression and self-harm. Instead, this misguided take on a dark comedy ultimately lacks laughs, thrills, and overall reverence for severe topics.
The Trouble with Jessica comes to VOD on May 20.

The Trouble with Jessica

Great performances from a taalented ensemble can’t hide The Trouble With Jessica’s misguided insight into mental health.

Release Date

April 5, 2024

Runtime

89 minutes

Director

Matt Winn

Writers

James Handel

Pros & Cons

Great performances from an impressive ensemble.
Some genuinely funny moments.

Mental health and suicidal ideation feels trivialized.
The ending feels convenient and unsatisfying.
Indira Varma doesn’t get a chance to shine.