A small story about one night when four friends have to manage their dead friend’s body, The Trouble With Jessica never figures out what it wants to be. The jazzy score is nice, though.
I remember watching the trailer for this film in the movie theater earlier this year. It stuck out to me because #1. It was funny, and #2 When I looked it up, it seemed to have been released in 2023 even though it was hitting our US theaters in 2025. But either way, I wanted to see it.
The Trouble With Jessica is about a group of five college friends (four of whom are couples) who get together for dinner at one couple’s house. The fifth guest, Jessica, kind of crashed the party and only joined at the last minute, with the hostess feeling less than happy about it. When Jessica unexpectedly dies during the evening, the hosts decide not to report it to the police because it may ruin the impending sale of their home.
This movie was really disappointing. I wish that I could tell you that it was a comedy or a drama, but it never knew what it was. The tone of the film, the dialogue, the jazzy background music, and the actors’ intonations all suggest that it is supposed to be a comedy, but it is not funny. It feels like it keeps missing the mark even though there are moments that could be amusing – they just aren’t.
The plot also feels inane. While I was looking for something closer to Weekend At Bernie’s or Death Becomes Her with a more modern twist, all of the reasoning here feels ridiculous. Plus, you do not care about the characters, so the limited lengths that they go to in order to not let this death be discovered – yeah, it just doesn’t matter to you.
There is one tiny sequence that lasts about 2 minutes that raised a bit of amusement inside of me. It has to do with a couple making out against a car that all of the friends are sitting in. But then it’s over and the film goes back to blah.
The best thing about this film (other than the cast doing their best with what they had) is that I learned about a new dessert. Clafoutis somehow plays a role in this film and I’d never heard of it before. According to Wikipedia, clafoutis is “a French dish of unpitted sour cherries, arranged in a buttered dish, covered with a thick but pourable batter, then baked to create a crustless tart.” Now you know too.
Overall, The Trouble With Jessica is a frustrating film with a short runtime that feels too long. Shirley Henderson, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams are all great to hang out with, but all of their parts feel fairly two-dimensional. I’m not sure what else they could have done. Pass.
Runtime: 89 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated (I’d say around PG-13)
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? No
Did I Cry? No, I experienced almost no emotions whatsoever
My Rating: 2/5 Stars
Available: To rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
I remember watching the trailer for this film in the movie theater earlier this year. It stuck out to me because #1. It was funny, and #2 When I looked it up, it seemed to have been released in 2023 even though it was hitting our US theaters in 2025. But either way, I wanted to see it.
