The Trouble with Jessica is a British movie that questions how far you’d go to avoid financial ruin as this deliciously dark comedy sees four friends having to get rid of a dead body.
The movies stars Harry Potter actor Shirley Henderson and Resident Alien’s Alan Tudyk as married couple Sarah and Tom, who are in dire financial trouble. Rufus Sewell and Olivia Williams play their best friends, Richard and Beth, while Game of Thrones’ Indira Varma is Jessica, an old friend who inconveniently takes her own life in their garden just as they are about to sell their home. To avoid financial ruin the friends must move Jessica’s body back to her own flat and stage her death there. What could possibly go wrong?
"The Trouble with Jessica is the film I’ve always wanted to make — a black comedy satirising the British middle classes, examining their hopes, dreams, duplicities and hypocrises,” says co-writer and director Matt Winn. “It’s a state of the nation piece about Britain now that asks a simple question: who are we and what are our values? Working with this ensemble cast - comprised of some of the country's best actors - was a director's dream and I'm thrilled that our film will be hitting the big screen this autumn."
Here’s everything you need to know about the movie The Trouble with Jessica…
The Trouble with Jessica release date
The Trouble with Jessica arrives in UK and Irish cinemas from Friday, April 5 2024. At the moment there’s no word on whether it will be released in the US but if we hear anything, we’ll update you on here.
We'll also update if and when the movie comes to a streaming service such as Prime Video or Netflix later in 2024.
Is there a trailer for The Trouble with Jessica?
Yes The Trouble with Jessica trailer shows the friends enjoying a dinner party but then it all goes horribly wrong when Jessica kills herself in the garden. And it’s clear they will do anything to hide the truth.
The Trouble with Jessica plot
The Trouble with Jessica sees cash-strapped Shirley and Tom (Shirley Henderson and Alan Tudyk) facing financial ruin. Luckily, however, they have managed to find a buyer for their stylish London home. They invite their best friends Richard (Rufus Sewell) and Beth (Olivia Williams) round for a final dinner party but they bring along an unwanted old friend, Jessica (Indira Varma). After a trivial argument Jessica hangs herself in the garden and Sarah quickly realises that if their buyer finds out, he’ll pull out of the sale. So, they rope Richard and Beth into helping them take her body back to her flat and staging her death there. But can they pull it off?
The Trouble with Jessica review: a deliciously dark comedy
The Trouble with Jessica cast
The Trouble with Jessica has five main stars. Harry Potter and Star Wars star Shirley Henderson is Sarah while Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien and American Dad!) is her husband Tom. Victoria, SCOOP and The Diplomat star Rufus Sewell is Richard and Olivia Williams (Princes Anne in The Crown, The Nevers) is his wife Beth. Game of Thrones, The Capture and Obi-Wan Kenobi star Indira Varma is Jessica.
Also look out for Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax, Sanditon), Sylvester Groth, Alice Henley and Jonathan Livingstone.
Behind the scenes and more on The Trouble with Jessica
The Trouble with Jessica is written and directed by Matt Winn, with co-writer James Handel, and the movies is produced by Sarah Sulick and co-produced by Jeremy Campbell. The Trouble with Jessica is presented by Parkland Film Capital in association with Finite Films and Relevate Ventures and it's a Bright Pictures production in association with Yes Repeat No.
Matt Winn says: "When I set out to make this film, what I was really interested in was to take a snapshot of the British middle classes at this particular moment in time. I wanted to put them under a microscope and to pick them and their values apart, to record and observe their absurd behaviour and to create a satirical ‘state of the nation’ piece. To do this, I needed a big story to provide a way in. This came in the form of a suicide. The eponymous Jessica kills herself in the company of a group of her oldest friends, an event so shocking that it will change their lives forever. And the main question that it forces my characters to grapple with is a moral one: what is the right thing to do?"
