Understanding our mother and father can typically really feel not possible, staring throughout a generational divide and an ocean of shared reminiscences that we see otherwise from one another. Now think about how a lot more durable coming to grips with the complexity of your mother or father could be in case your dad was an notorious serial killer. That is the premise of Pleased Face, a brand new true crime drama from The Good Spouse creators Robert King and Michelle King.
Annaleigh Ashford, who just lately thrilled on Broadway because the murderous Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, stars as Melissa Reed. Melissa is a spouse, a mom, and knowledgeable make-up artist — and the haunted daughter of the Pleased Face Killer, Keith Jesperson (The Substance‘s Dennis Quaid). In the course of the many years since he was caught, they’ve been estranged. That’s, till he claims there was a ninth sufferer the cops by no means tied to him. However he’ll solely give particulars to his darling “Missy,” who simply so occurs to work for a chat present that is equally looking forward to unique interviews with this serial killer.
This can be a wealthy setup for a criminal offense investigation thread. However what makes Pleased Face a standout is how sequence showrunner Jennifer Cacicio balances the homicide thriller with character-driven drama that’s alarmingly relatable. Be warned: This present is ruthlessly gripping.
Pleased Face relies on a real crime case and a survivor’s story.
Credit score: Ed Araquel / Paramount+
The primary episode of Pleased Face particulars the broad strokes of Jesperson’s real-life crimes. A truck driver within the Nineties, he focused younger ladies that he got here throughout in his travels, sexually assaulting after which fatally strangling them. His jarring nickname got here from the letters he despatched to the media as taunts. These menacing missives have been signed with a doodle of a cheerful face.
The troubling juxtaposition of Jesperson’s predilection for a cheerful exterior and a darkish coronary heart is mirrored brilliantly in Pleased Face via Quaid’s unsettling efficiency. Within the present-day timeline, he’s downright jolly as he addresses Melissa, the grown daughter who’s being morally blackmailed to reconnect with him. But, regardless of the orange jumpsuit and the shackles, he is giving off a disarming dad vibe, at the same time as he speaks bluntly about his victims. In flashbacks to time earlier than he was caught, he appears outwardly like every blue-collared dad, his grin paired with a plaid shirt, playful perspective, and a ball cap. Nonetheless, a vicious depth hits in bursts, as his eyes flash with panic or his smile twists with menace. Even within the current, that smile can slice like a blade.
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Credit score: Ed Araquel / Paramount+
Neatly, director Michael Showalter picks jaunty tunes with lyrics about having a “happy face,” which not solely displays Keith’s troubling duality but in addition play as a warning to his daughter. For years, she’s worn a cheerful face as a masks of normalcy, defending her husband (James Wolk) and kids from her dad and the disgrace and recriminations from these appalled by him. However as she’s pressured to wade again into their previous and her personal sense of guilt over the killings, songs urging to “put on a happy face” really feel like they mock her — or worse — push her towards the harmful duplicity her dad used to cover in plain sight. Mainly, when you’re presenting one face to the world to cover one other, aren’t you inherently a risk?
Over the 4 episodes introduced to critics, Melissa grapples with the will to do proper, aiming to free a person she believes was wrongfully convicted of her dad’s homicide. However the present pulls inspiration Jesperson’s real-life daughter, Melissa G. Moore, who made a podcast (Pleased Face) and co-wrote a ebook (Shattered Silence) about her expertise. As such, this sequence additionally digs into the psychological challenges of processing her father’s fact and his crimes. What do they imply so far as who she is, who she is going to develop into, and what she owes the world?
Pleased Face explores true crime and private accountability.
Credit score: Katie Yu / Paramount+
This crime sequence explores remorse and redemption as its heroine reconnoiters her previous to avoid wasting another person’s future. However in doing so, she should sacrifice the anonymity that served as safety, holding her husband and kids away from the affect of her devilishly charming father. This makes each episode a meal for Ashford, whose heroine should leap from on a regular basis dramas like reprimanding her reckless teen daughter Hazel (Khiyla Aynne) to plunging into childhood artifacts for clues and staring down her father, whereas her co-workers look on.
See, making issues even extra sophisticated for Melissa is she’s the make-up artist for Dr. Greg, a Dr. Phil-like speak present that’s pleased to use her familial tragedy for scores. The producer assigned to her is Ivy (Tamera Tomakili), who’s hard-nosed in the case of getting the story, but in addition at occasions the voice of motive Melissa wants to tug her out of a self-focused spiral. Via Ivy and the speak present, Pleased Face takes a step again to absorb the sophisticated ethics round exploitation and spectacle in true crime. The 2 may have frank conversations about why individuals are so fixated on this topic, and the way societal biases influence who’s solid because the heroes and villains, justly or not.
Past that, Pleased Face explores how Melissa’s relationship along with her mother and father compares to her relationship along with her daughter. Flashbacks to Melissa’s teen years are framed to be parallel to Hazel’s expertise with bullies, but in addition in the way in which each Melissa and her personal mom are overwhelmed with the problem of dealing with the invention of a serial killer within the household tree. Positive, few of us could possibly relate to the latter. However with the opening episode, Cacicio’s writing and Showalter’s course so masterfully knit the material of this household — estranged and unusual as they could be — as to be joltingly acquainted. In informal conversations about dinner and grounding, goofy moments of getting caught off-guard whereas on a secretive telephone name and impulsively shopping for treats to clean over a tough day, Melissa’s journey has sufficient tactile contact factors for viewers that we won’t assist however be sucked into her story.
For her half, Ashford is a fascinating tour information via the present’s trauma, tragedy, and sharply witty moments of launch. She’s no-nonsense with out being stiff. Her eyes flash with the depth of her onscreen father, however carrying an agony and earnestness absent in his. Whereas the sequence’ first 4 episodes are thoughtfully plotted with shocking twists and gnarly revelations, it is Ashford’s grounded however riveting efficiency that makes them downright addictive. Her openness and frankness provides the air that something might occur subsequent. And whereas that is primarily based on a real story, midway via the primary season, I can not be sure the place this thriller present will find yourself. And that is rattling thrilling.
Pleased Face was reviewed out its World Premiere on the 2025 SXSW Movie Competition. The primary two episodes will debut globally on Paramount+ on March 20, with new episodes airing every Thursday.
