‘The Trouble With Jessica’ Review – Tragedy Becomes A Farce In Smart Black Comedy About Life & Death

The Trouble with Jessica is nothing. Alright, that is a little snark. However, the black comedy is wrapped in a brilliantly written and acted ensemble. The story takes place in a single evening, with each character’s actions driving the narrative, thanks partly to their reaction to their manipulative friend and hostess. The film deftly examines difficult choices, along with complex personality types. As a snapshot, the film deconstructs two upper-middle-class couples, going to absurd lengths to preserve friendships, marriages, and avoid prison! Equal parts funny and gripping. There is no trouble with this film; it is a delight.

We begin with a mundane, nothing-to-be-expected dinner. Tom (Alan Tudyk) and Sarah (Shirley Henderson) are hosting their friends Richard (Rufus Sewell) and Beth (Olivia Williams), who bring the group’s mutual friend Jessica (Indira Varma) along. Right here, there is tension with the presence of Jessica, but dinner largely goes uneventfully. Yet, following a trivial argument, Jessica disappears and is later found dead, hanging herself in the garden. Tom and Sarah, who are closing on the sale of their house, must convince their friends to help them hide Jesscia’s body, before the revelation of its kiboshes the sale of their home. 

A comedy of errors ensues as nothing goes right for the squad. First, the nosy neighbor Miranda (Anne Ried) is present. As an author, Jessica writes a bestseller and is quite the talk of the town. Miranda happens to glimpse her entering the house earlier in the evening. Later, as they are trying to figure out what to do with the body, Miranda announces herself, begging for an autograph. But the antic does not end there. The home’s future owner, Klaus (Slyvester Groth), arrives wanting to see the house before he buys it for his wife. The group spends their evening hiding Jessica’s body in a myriad of locales, before figuring out just what to do with it. 

Of course, it is not only Jessica’s suicide that the group must confront. Throughout the evening, knives come out as each group member holds a secret. Jesscia’s death serves as the jumping off point for what becomes a riotous night of arguments, double-crosses, and shocking revelations. All the while, the film is delivering, laugh after laugh. While the subject matter is grim, the story’s reliance on quick, British humor is effective, and it takes what otherwise would be a depressing melodrama and turns it into the makings of a screwball comedy. 

The chaos keeps rising throughout this tightly written script. The movie is a farce and exaggerates the characters’ actions and reactions stemming from Jessica’s hanging. However, amid the hijinks, the film never forgets to tell a story. The most decisive moments in the film have nothing to do with the shenanigans facing the group but with their own revelations and dirty laundry. 

At the surface, the film showcases how one person’s suicide affects all the people left behind; director Matt Winn compares it to dropping a giant stone in a pond. The effects are long-lasting and do not go away. He presents four characters with their own moral compass in making this decision. The film weaves in a moral and ethical debate amid all the uproar and chaos. At the center of it all is Sarah, who, along with Tom, is in dire financial straits and needs to sell their house. She acts as the manipulator of the charade, putting her in contrast with Beth’s self-righteousness and Richard’s moral ambiguity. 

While serving as both the drama and conflict of the film’s story, Jessica is a character left largely a mystery. There are hints at her battles with depression and bohemian lifestyle, but mainly, she functions as the web tying these four characters together. It is through her suicide that the actions and lives of Tom/Sarah and Beth/Richard come into focus.

The film cares little about tying up all the loose ends and instead leaves things more or less resolved. In part, this is because of the script, but mainly, it is the strength of the performance. In an ensemble piece, each member balances the delicate role of comedy and drama, allowing for the exaggerated personality traits to pop at the right, orchestrated time.

The Trouble with Jessica is a romp about the intersection of morality and ethics. Life and decisions are scrutinized as we, the audience, revel in and inject ourselves into the zaniness and complexity.  

 The Trouble with Jessica is currently available on Digital platforms courtesy of Music Box Films.