The Trouble with Jessica Parent Guide

Caught in dire financial straits, Sarah and Tom (Shirley Henderson and Alan Tudyk) have been forced to sell their home. They’ve come to an agreement with a buyer, and if the sale goes through within the week, they’ll avoid bankruptcy. Before moving out, they’ve decided to host one final dinner party.

Their chosen guests are long-time friends, Richard and Beth (Rufus Sewell and Olivia Williams), who show up with a tag-a-long friend, Jessica (Indira Varma). Despite decades of association, Jessica has a talent for getting under Sarah’s skin. And she does it in spades this time, hanging herself in the garden.

Amidst the grief and panic, Sarah remains coldly analytical. She refuses to call the police or ambulance, lest news of the death scares off the buyer. Instead, she hatches an insane scheme to move Jessica’s body – and will sink to extortion and blackmail if that’s what it takes to achieve her goals.

The Trouble with Jessica tries to be a dark comedy but it succeeds primarily in being annoying. It should be funny – the plot could certainly seed lots of twisted jokes and the cast are talented. Instead the film plods along, briefly lifted by the occasional dry joke about lawyers or pointed observations about the dominant role of real estate in the psyches of the upper middle class. The script also feels unconvincing; if you think too hard it will make your head hurt. (All I could think of was how unconvincing Sarah’s plan is and how much forensic evidence the four plotters have left all over the place. This case is a no-brainer for the cops, who will definitely be suspicious when they find Jessica’s body.)

Also disappointing is the volume of profanity in the script, with close to 100 sexual expletives and another thirty assorted curse words, all stuffed into an hour-and-a-half of screen time. The cussing feels ubiquitous and overwhelms the rest of the dialogue. As for other negative content, it’s moderate with sanitized violence and sex limited to mention of past relationships.

This film is a cautionary tale about getting excited about an upcoming show. I thought the trailer looked funny; I looked forward to watching the movie; I wound up disappointed. Such is the life of a film critic – but you, dear reader, don’t have to sit through The Trouble with Jessica. Enjoy your freedom and find something more fun to watch.