The Trouble with Jessica

The Trouble with Jessica is a 2023 British satirical dark comedy film starring Shirley Henderson, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, Indira Varma and Olivia Williams.

Premise
A satirical dark comedy, two upper middle class British couples find themselves having to hide a dead body in order to retain the value of the property that is about to be sold.

Cast

 * Shirley Henderson as Sarah
 * Alan Tudyk as Tom
 * Rufus Sewell as Richard
 * Olivia Williams as Beth
 * Indira Varma as Jessica
 * Anne Reid as Miranda
 * Sylvester Groth as Klaus

Production
The film is directed by Matt Winn and is written by James Handel and Matt Winn. It is produced by Sarah Sulick for Bright Pictures, Yes Repeat No, Relevate Ventures. Filming took place in London in 2022. A first trailer was released in February 2023.

Henderson said she was attracted to the project by the writing, describing it as "lovely writing. It’s dark, cutting, sharp humour, and not necessarily comfortable humour, but it makes you laugh".

Release
The film was shown at the Dinard Film Festival in September 2023. The film had its North American premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 2024.

It has a UK cinema release date of 5 April 2024.

Critical reception
Ed Potton in The Times wrote that the ensemble cast "performances teeter enjoyably between drama and comedy” and added that some of the details in the script are "hilariously telling". Cath Clarke in The Guardian praised the performance of Shirley Henderson but "wasn’t totally convinced by the dialogue". Clarrise Loughrey in The Independent said that the film understands "that the basics of farce are concerned less with the specifics of narrative and more with the ushering of a willing and talented troupe towards unbridled chaos."

Accolades
It was the winner of the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema in September 2023.